


Payback's A Nightmare

by Xylia_Neo



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Angst, Betrayal, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Family Issues, Family Secrets, Friendship, Gen, Mystery, Post-Betrayal, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-08-23 05:15:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 55,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8315308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xylia_Neo/pseuds/Xylia_Neo
Summary: She was his Sophie. He was her Fitz. But as you know, nothing lasts forever.Sophie and Fitz were together--once upon a time, that is. But the past is in the past, and now, Evelina Sencen resolves to take revenge on the guy who broke her mother's heart. When Evelina uncovers more about their past, she becomes intrigued to work this mystery out--but can she do all that without falling for the charms of Brennus Vacker?





	1. chapter the first

**Author's Note:**

> In which the daughter of Sophie and Keefe decides to avenge her mother, but it turns out more than for which she's been expecting.

 

* * *

**CHAPTER THE FIRST**

A trickle of drool ran down Evelina Sencen's chin as she buried her head deeper into her soft fluffy pillow, which was already half wet with her own saliva. She lay unsettled on her canopy bed-which was really comfortable most times-but tonight wasn't a good night to remember, as the dreams kept haunting her. They never went away.

The nightmares Evelina had were the most frightening things she had ever experienced. She wished she didn't care about them so much. Then, maybe it would naturally stop happening at all. However, no matter how hard she tried to forget, the haunted dreams just came back every time to make her life most miserable.

Sometimes, she would even wake up in absolute terror, muscles tensed, sweating profusely, heart palpitating fiercely and gasping desperately for breath.

Evelina clenched her fists tightly in her sleep and groped around her bed half-consciously for something to hold on to, and caught hold of something small and square-ish. She had completely no idea what that was supposed to be but she didn't care. She just needed something to grip so that she could exert all her force into that tiny object, at the same time eliciting out her panicked feelings until the thing she had been holding for dear life crushed and shattered into a million pieces. That was when she could feel completely relaxed, and tranquility would flow into her body again, successfully calming her down.

But her mother didn't like it at all, and even Evelina admitted to herself that it was wasting things that were working perfectly well in the first place. But no matter how hard she tried to resist this habit, she just could not. It was a habit that she was so used to that it could not be resisted anymore. Evelina knew it was a really bad habit, but she just couldn't help it. Sometimes when she saw her mother's sad face when her bad habit didn't cease at all, Evelina would feel shame washing over her. She didn't like to see that look on her mother's face.

Evelina would always do this when the nightmares came to her. Her mother wasn't the least of pleased when one night, Evelina's scream and a sound of shattering of glass immediately woke her up from her precious power-sleep that she so needed. And when she found out what was it that Evelina broke, her annoyance turned to horror and fury as her daughter had broken her own picture frame that held an old picture of the young her, Evelina's dad, a girl with lustrous chocolate-brown hair that fell from her head like a shimmering waterfall, and blue eyes of the colour teal, a boy with neat strawberry-blonde hair and periwinkle-blue irises that had the cutest dimples ever, and lastly, a boy that bore a striking resemblance to the girl who had teal eyes.

She could still remember her mother and her talking wistfully about the picture when Evelina broke it.

_"Evelina, how could you?" Mum exclaimed in horror, shooting a stern look at Evelina, who cringed and immediately started apologizing profusely._

_"Mum, I'm really sorry! It was on accident!" Evelina apologized and protested at the same time, feeling a need to also defend herself while blaming herself for the incident._

_Her mother ignored her and bent down to pick up the pieces of glass that had fell onto the marble floor. "There are scratches on the floor because of the darned glass. And this is a precious thing to me, Evelina. Be more careful next time-wait, no, be absolutely careful and don't break anything. Do you hear me?"_

_Evelina hung her head remorsefully. "Yes, Mum," she said guiltily. She stared at her shoes, ashamed of herself. This wasn't like her! Evelina was always the perfect girl-she did all her homework, she had not one, but two special abilities that were honed to be so strong that other people envied her, and she was always respectful to everyone. Everyone. Even Elmira Babblos, the bully at Foxfire Academy._

_Well, that instantly changed when she heard what her mother said next._

_Her mother nodded approvingly and forgave Evelina graciously, but Evelina thought her voice was a little stiff when she suddenly spoke up quietly, picking up the last shard of glass along with the photo of the five of them. She stared at the photo, a certain emotion in her eyes, which were becoming misty._

_"Mum?" Evelina said softly, snaking a hand around her mother's arm. It felt so fragile, which made people underestimate her. But she was the most powerful Telepath in the world. Nothing could stop her._

_Her mother snapped out of her trance and wiped her eyes on her intricately embroidered handkerchief. "Sorry...I was just thinking back to the past," she said vaguely. Evelina didn't think she was fully aware of what she was saying. Her mother never opened much about her past and her father always obeyed her mother by saying, "Yes, Foster". Why would he agree to tell Evelina if her mother didn't like anyone talking about her own story?_

_Her mother sniffed softly. "Fitz was a great guy, but he broke my heart. I'm not spending the rest of my life with that jerk. To think I even had a silly crush on him when I was younger..."_

_Evelina eyed the photo warily, her eyes scanning the five people for 'Fitz'. Her eyes landed on the boy with teal eyes and brown hair. "That's him?" she asked, pointing at his face._

_Her mother turned away, clearly not wanting to look at him. Evelina sighed and her eyes narrowed in anger at the boy standing there with such an innocent look on his face. Well, appearances could be deceiving, and that expression on his face wouldn't fool Evelina one bit now that she knew what sin that jerk guy had committed. She knew he had once been a Councillor, but that didn't give him the excuse for Evelina to respect him._

_If her mother said that he was a jerk, he was a jerk._

_If her mother said that he broke her heart, he broke her heart._

_And whether or not if he was a Councillor, Evelina really didn't care at all._

_All her respect for the noble former Councillor instantly vanished and it was replaced with hatred._

_Evelina knew she had a rule to respect everybody, but if this jerk here broke her mum's heart, well, the rule was changed._

_She vowed she would hate Fitz Vacker with all her might, and whoever who was related to him._

_They didn't deserve the fame and the fortune and more at all. Evelina's heart turned to stone for these Vackers, and she smiled a rather evil smile as she thought, It's payback time, Vackers._

The thing that Evelina had been grasping so tightly during her nightmare suddenly crushed under her huge force, breaking into a million sharp pieces that jabbed at her palm painfully. The pain woke Evelina up forcefully and she yelped in agony. Without thinking, she let go of the object on her own instinct and flung it onto the ground to tend to her injured hand.

 _Ow, that really hurts! OUCH_!

There was a loud shattering noise that pierced Evelina's ears and a small gasp of horror escaped from her lips.

 _Oops...Mum isn't going to be happy_ , she thought, panicking. A mental image of her mother frowning sternly at her sent shivers and vibes of panic down her spine, and that made her panic, sweat beading down her forehead.

Could she do anything? No. Evelina knew her mother had ears like a bat and eyes like a hawk, so she would have heard the loud noise (admittedly, anyone would have heard it) and there was no way of tricking her as her sharp eyes would spot the spoiled thing as soon as she entered the room. Yeah, in the dark. Sometimes Evelina thought her mum had X-ray supersonic cat-like eyes that couldn't miss anything even in the darkest of nights.

Yes, in fact, she could hear her mother's footsteps nearing her mahogany door as she cowered behind her bed sheets, then decided against it. She needed to man up and face the consequences. Well, who asked the nightmares to come and disturb her in the first place? It was because of that horrible Fitz Vacker, but whatever.

Her mother opened the door, and Evelina was shaking inside. But she took a deep breath and snapped her fingers, filling the room with bright light. She winced as the light hit her pupils until she really thought she was going to be blind.

Her mother winced too, then asked, "What is going on here, Evelina?" Then her eyes darted to the ground, where a million plastic pieces and two sticks-one long and red, one short and black-lay hopelessly.

Evelina slapped her head on her forehead hard as she realised she had broken her alarm clock. Great. What time was it now? She had no way of telling time without her clock.

" Ummm...Sorry about that, Mum...But...What time is it?"

Her mother scowled at her, but answered swiftly without looking at her watch, "It's four in the morning. Which means two things. One: You should be asleep at this abnormal time. Two: Two more hours before you go to school, so you better get your beauty sleep before you get up again." With that, she spun on her heel and started walking out of the room.

"Wait!" Evelina called after her. She turned around, a questioning look on her face. "What about the alarm clock? And my injured hand?" Evelina gestured wildly at the mess on the ground, totally clueless about what she should do.

Her mother turned on her back again. "You can visit Elwin at the Healing Center when you go to school later in the morning. Just clean up the mess, I'll replace your broken one with a brand-new one." Then she walked away and closed the door, leaving nothing in her wake. Though it may be just Evelina's own imagination when she was tired, but she thought she heard her mother's weary sigh as she left the room.

Evelina sighed her own sigh too, then squatted on all fours and started picking up what was left of her dear alarm clock and hurling it into the wastepaper basket like she was practicing throwing. After she had threw less than half at the dustbin and failed terribly (did she mention she totally sucked at throwing?) Evelina let out a sound of exasperation and decided to use a different approach to get all the pieces into the basket that was about four to five meters away from her.

Evelina shut her eyes and concentrated on a few of the pieces from the broken alarm clock, and drew out some of her core energy to mentally carry them to the wastepaper basket and drop them in. She found this exercise oddly satisfying and used telekinesis to put all the other shards into the dustbin, then clambered into bed, desperate in need for sufficient sleep for the next day at Foxfire Academy.

* * *

"Ring, ring, ring, ring! Ring, ring, ring, ring!"

The sharp sound of bells ringing was most not pleasing to Evelina's ears as she was oh-so-rudely pulled out of Dreamland, aka La-La-Land, or the Dream Realm. At least the dreams there were not like the horrifying nightmares Evelina consistently experienced.

Evelina groaned and stretched her arms widely, sitting up in her bed. The morning sun shone brightly out of her window. Evelina scratched her head confusedly. The blinds were up, and she remembered they were down and covering the large glass windows completely. Whoever would do such an inconsiderate thing and pull up the curtains and blinds so stupid sunlight can awake her from her sleep?

"Good morning," chirped her father, coming over to Evelina's bed and rubbing the top of her head affectionately, successfully messing up even more of her bedhead hair.

Evelina groaned. "Please don't make my hair worse. I hate it," she complained to her father, eyeing his equally disheveled hair in disapproval. "I have no idea why you like it messy. Just because yours is, doesn't mean mine must be."

"You know the wise old saying, 'Like father, like daughter'. So why wouldn't you please Daddy for a day and wear the same cool style as me?"

"Never," Evelina told her father firmly, evidently horrified. "And since when was your style cool, Dad?"

"And that's what I don't understand about. Females and their crazy obsession with their own hair."

"You're obsessed with your hair too, Dad, don't forget that obvious fact," Evelina told her frowning father, finding immense pleasure in contradicting his opinions that had so many loopholes in it.

"Yeah, but look at me. Then look at Biana, with the all the makeup on her face and hair serums. And then I would think, no, I'm notthat obsessed with my own hair. I'm still the best, don't you think so?" Her father desperately played his last card to defend his case.

"Yes," Evelina deadpanned, earning a satisfied grin from her father. But his smug smile quickly disappeared when she added, "But that's mainly because Biana is a Vacker, and I hate all Vackers."

"You're still not over that thing?" Her father asked her quietly, his fun mood suddenly turning serious.

Evelina became silent for a moment, then said with a cold, hard voice, "Well, that jerk of a guy broke Mum's heart and I'm never forgetting that."

Her dad shook his head. "Look at me, Lina," he said firmly, forcing Evelina to look at him. "Just because Fitz made Foster heartbroken, doesn't mean you must hate the rest of his family. What? They've done nothing wrong. Only Fitz did, and I forgive Fitz for that. Anyways, he's my best friend and I knew why he did it. Oh, and speaking of the Vackers, I think your mother has something with them today. And apparently she's bringing you along."

"What?" Evelina screeched loudly, disgusted. "An appointment? With the Vackers? And I will be there?" After she calmed down, she took a deep breath and continued, "But...won't Mum see Fitz? And what if her bitter feelings arise again and something happens to her? And won't it be all because of him? I don't like it, but I must go with her. There's no choice. What if my mum breaks down when she sees that guy? I must go and look after her."

Her father grinned at her proudly and flashed her a trademark smirk that Evelina loved so much. "That's my girl! Look after Foster for me, won't you? See you later, kiddo." With that, he set off to the Leapmaster to leap to his workplace to work.

Evelina stood stunned for a second, then shook her head and smiled. Not a pleased one, but a hard and devious one. This appointment with the Vackers could be her chance in once in a lifetime. And maybe, she could know better about them and spot their weaknesses. Then, they would be going down one by one.

And first on her list was Fitz Vacker.

 

 

 


	2. chapter the second

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Brennus Vacker becomes a jerkface.

**CHAPTER THE SECOND**

Sophie Foster sighed softly in weariness as she slipped herself out of her daughter’s room and closed the door softly.

  Yet another thing Evelina had broken.

  It felt so bad to feel ashamed of her own daughter, but she couldn’t help it. Really.

  She was so concerned about Evelina, but Evelina didn’t seem to notice her care for her. She leaned back on the wooden door, sliding herself down onto the marble floor. Her adoptive mother, Edaline, had been what Sophie felt she was like now. Overprotective.

  Sophie pushed a cool hand to her forehead, which felt blazing. Sophie shook her head wearily and fished out a silk handkerchief to wipe the sweat off her forehead. It didn’t make things better at all. She felt like she was sick. She could be having a fever, and she had to go visit the Vackers in the afternoon and bring Evelina along too!

  Evelina might as well be the most stubborn girl in the whole world, Sophie mused. She wasn’t blind and she knew very well as her mother, Evelina hated the Vackers with a burning passion—especially that _person._ Sophie bit her lip and her trembling fingers pulled out a loose eyelash located on her left eyelid. It wasn’t hard to think about him but Sophie knew she was being stupid . . . It was years ago and he would already have moved on anyway. Why couldn’t she? Keefe was the best person she could have as her partner, and she felt bad neglecting him and taking him for granted. She resolved to chat with him later.

  Sophie stood up from the floor reluctantly and took one step after another step down the spiraling stairs that led down to the basement of their house. The design was so, because Sophie loved her old home Havenfield so much that she decided to tweak it into a half-elvin, half-human style. But the nostalgia was too strong and every step Sophie took reminded her of memories of her past.

  She gathered her skirts up and sat down on the side of the elegant staircase. Sophie was afraid of heights, and so she tried very hard not to look down. When she did, it would feel dizzying and nauseous, so she refrained from doing that.

  Despite herself, her mind automatically wandered off to Fitz. How was he doing now? Was he even thinking of her anymore? Sophie flashbacked to the last argument they had before they broke up. It seemed rather stupid, now that she thought of it. But Fitz seemed to find it very important, for her it was otherwise.

_We threw words like they were sharp knives, it felt like we tripped over a landmine_

  Bitterness leaked into Sophie’s heart and hot tears threatened to fall over. She took several deep breaths in desperate attempt to calm herself down, but to no avail. Her mind kept wandering off to the good times they had together, how foolish and gullible she was to think that their love was true.

_You said we lost love, you made your mind up_

  Sophie shook her head and grabbed on to the staircase, her fingers shaking as she leaned her head on the metal railing. She tried to stop them but the memories just kept flowing back unstoppably, like a rushing torrent of water crashing towards her.

_And I just went quiet, my body became numb_

  She so wanted to just forget all about him and herself. She and him fell out and lost love, they all found happiness their own ways, so why was she still so heartbroken over the whole thing? She had Keefe, and that was enough. Her traitorous heart still fluttered annoyingly every time she thought about him.

 _And I pretend that I can handle it and if I hold my head up, I won't drown._  
Can't let go, you're like the chemical, you're racing through me.  
My heart just pounds, pounds, pounds

  Sophie buried her face in her hands and just sat there, blanking off and letting the memories swallow her into the deep, deep, deep abyss of the horrible past.

_It’s getting louder and louder every time I think about you_

_But I’ll be better off without you_

_I just wish my heart would stop_

_Wish my heart would stop_

_Beating me up._

  There was no going back from there.

_You’d moved on, I know I should too_

_My cuts are all gone, my pain feels brand new_

_But who turned the lights off?_

_Who took my torchlight?_

_Why does my heart sound like it might burst tonight?_

  Stupid crush, stupid silly ridiculous crush. Sophie felt like she should be ashamed of herself. What would everybody think if they found out Sophie was still grieving over this little thing? What would _Keefe_ think if he found out Sophie still liked Fitz?

_I won’t let you get the best of me. But how’d my heart become my enemy?_

  Sophie sobbed into her palms and ran down the stairs quickly, skipping one step by one step to get down faster. Unfortunately, her right foot slipped on the smooth wooden floor of the stairway and she went rolling down the stairs.  She yelped in terror, trying to hold on to the metal railing on the stairs, but to no avail.   Fear filled her heart as she slid down the staircase unstoppably.

  It felt too much like an avalanche of agony as Sophie was sent rolling down like an unstoppable gyro ball. Adrenaline disappeared and the agony took over, attacking her whole body.  Suddenly, a loud crack sounded in her left wrist and she cried out softly in pain. She must’ve broken her bone located there. Great.

  See what a heartbreak could do to Sophie until it was a matter of life-and-death.

  Sophie landed ungracefully on her bottom at the ground floor and slowly staggered to the bedroom where she could hear Keefe snoring peacefully. An affectionate smile tugged at Sophie’s lips and she pushed open the door softly, ignoring the sharp pain in her left wrist.

  She would have to ignore it for the night.

  Sophie slipped into the bed quietly with Keefe, not wanting to wake him up. Watching him sleep peacefully without a crease of worry on his face, Sophie nearly broke down crying in guilt for what she had done.

  A teardrop landed on Keefe’s cheek. Sophie sighed and used her right index finger to gently wipe it off. Her finger grazed his cheek softly and Sophie smiled unconsciously. Worry-free now, she closed her eyes slowly and let her shoulders and body relax onto her bed.

  Soon, her weariness turned into drowsiness and she unexpectedly entered the dream realm, where a nasty nightmare was waiting for her.

* * *

 

  Evelina watched the disappearing figure of her father as she tapped her foot in perfect rhythm of a song that had popped up in her mind last night during one of her dreams. She didn’t know where it had come from, it had just appeared out of nowhere in her head, and it had been stuck there ever since. The song had a catchy but dark tune, and a tense, quick beat that made Evelina shiver, goosebumps dimpling her lower arms. She rubbed them hardly, and hummed the haunting melody on the way down the spiraling mahogany stairs.

  Suddenly, words that fit perfectly into the melody of the song appeared in her mind with the tune, which made Evelina stop in her tracks. Evelina frowned and listened to the sounds and voices inside her mind. It was all too strange...

_You moved on, I know I should too._

_I wish my heart would stop beating me up..._

  Where had all those lyrical words come from? And it wasn’t just anybody singing the words along with the lilting notes. It was a voice that was so familiar that   Evelina would know it anywhere.

  It was her mother.

  Evelina furrowed her brows together in confusion again, her mind whirling with questions. Since when did her mother sing? But she waved all her bemused thoughts away and shook her head vigorously, muttering to herself, “I must be dreaming at that time” and stepped off the stairs.

  Her feet got into full contact with the smooth, cold, hard marble floor, sending tingles into her body. She didn’t pay any attention to that and instead she headed over to the dining area without a second thought where her mother was waiting for her to eat their breakfast.

  Little did Evelina know how right she was.

  Evelina slipped into her chair directly in front of her mother. “Good morning, Mum,” she greeted chirpily, flashing a radiant smile towards Sophie.

  To her surprise, Sophie managed a weak smile. “Good morning, Lina,” she said discreetly, her eyes staring into empty space. Evelina blanched in surprise and happiness as she delved into a pool of confusion. Normally, her mother wasn’t even that cheery to Evelina.

  That was the first time ever she had called her Lina, not by her full name.

   But now, it looked like she had took a turn for the better and decided to acknowledge her daughter more. Spurred by that enthusiastic thought, Evelina dove into a lake of pure happiness and couldn’t help smiling as she looked at her mother for the longest time Evelina had remembered.

  But the smile plastered on her lips vanished when she looked at Sophie more carefully. Her left hand was shaking considerably and her wrist looked queerly crooked as she used that hand to carry a huge bowl of umber leaves towards her side.

  “Mum, are you alright?” asked Evelina worriedly, glancing concernedly at her mother’s trembling hand as she lifted the bowl of food into it.

  Sophie merely glanced at her before she said, “Huh?” Then her hand gave way as it lost its grip on the porcelain bowl. Sophie screamed in pain as the shiny, blue bowl crashed to the floor, shattering into a million shards of porcelain, and leaving the umber leaves scattered all over the ground.

  “Mum!” cried Evelina in shock as she hurried over to her mother. Her eyes were glassy and terrified as she stared emptily at the bowl and the leaves, her left hand still vibrating from the shock of the whole ordeal.

  When she saw that her mother clearly wasn’t able to do anything, Evelina knew she had to take matters into her own hands. She let out a long, exasperated sigh as she bent over and picked up one jagged, sharp piece of what was left of the bowl.

  When she was about to throw it into the dustbin, a tired, weary voice stopped her in her tracks.

  “Don’t do that.”

  Evelina whirled around and saw her mother’s eyebrows furrowed together in full concentration. Confused, she turned her attention to the porcelain pieces and the purple umber leaves again. Then her eyes widened at the amazing sight.

  All the things that had been poured all over the ground were floating in the air, controlled by her mother’s telekinesis power. Then when Sophie flicked her uninjured hand towards the food bin, they all dropped inside with a loud _splat._

  Evelina stared at her mother in shock. That was the first time she had seen her using her telekinesis by herself. The only time she used it was when she was teaching the prodigies in Foxfire about the Ultimate Splotching Championship.

  Sophie looked like nothing had happened as she stabbed her fork into a piece of squishy green vegetable. “Let’s eat the rest of the food before you are late for school, Lina.”

  There was it again. ‘Lina’. Since when did her mother call her that? Maybe she really was getting more affectionate with her.

  Evelina suddenly remembered something. “Wait, Mum!” she cried, rushing over to her and grabbing hold of her left wrist. Her mother winced in pain when she did that, and Evelina cried out in triumph.

  “Aha!” she said in satisfaction. “Mum, you don’t need to hide it. You really need a doctor. You broke your wrist, right?”

  Sophie just gave her a look. That was when Evelina remembered that her mother hated doctors with a burning passion. “I’d drank a bone-healing serum just now. One more in the afternoon and it’ll be as right as rain. Don’t worry too much.”

  Despite still being stunned by everything that had just happened, Evelina smiled to herself and dug into her breakfast, munching on it quickly. The clock in the distance ticked softly and rung six times. Fifteen minutes before she needed to go to school.

  “Mum, so are we going somewhere today?” Evelina inquired, not sure if this would lead anywhere.

  Sophie looked blank. “What? No, I’m staying here. But you have an appointment with the Vackers. Alone, it seems,” she added nonchalantly, smiling mysteriously.

  Evelina dropped her utensils and her eyes nearly bulged out of her face in shock and horror.

  “Wait, _WHAT?”_ she almost shouted at her mother, who didn’t even flinch. Seemed like years of training in the Black Swan had made her immune to this kind of things. “I thought I was going with you!”

  Sophie shrugged, but she wasn’t looking at Evelina as she said firmly, “Well, I changed my mind. Meet Brennus Vacker at the Leapmaster in Foxfire first thing when the school bell rings.”

  Evelina could only stare at her mother in shock and betrayal as her mother stood up and said, “Better go now, Lina. Have a nice day, okay?”

  With that, she headed for the Leapmaster.

  Evelina narrowed her eyes in anger and annoyance. How dare her mother do this to her!

  But despite her anger, she couldn’t help but feel strangely happy as a wicked smile graced her lips widely. She was meeting Fitz Vacker’s son.

  Alone.

  And who knew what could come out of this meeting with him.

  Her mother couldn’t do anything to stop her from finding out the truth between her and Fitz Vacker.

  Then he, along with his son, was going down.

  Evelina finished her breakfast in a hurry, dressed in her Foxfire uniform hastily, grabbed all her school essentials, and made a beeline for the Leapmaster.

  Before she left, she looked at herself in the long mirror in her vast room, considering her appearance carefully.

  Dirty-blonde hair fell in waves to her waist, which was tied up neatly but casually in an ice-blue rubber band, which the colour matched perfectly with her eyes that were the colour of pale blue mist. Her hunter-green cape and emerald-green blouse and short skirt looked perfect, without a wrinkle.

  Evelina wasn’t vain, but she couldn’t help but feel happy. She did look pretty today, and attractive enough.

  Evelina didn’t know why, but she wanted to impress Brennus Vacker and show him she didn’t give a care about him.

  But deep down inside, she was targeting him, and everyone else who bore the family crest of the Vackers.

  Evelina smiled again and stepped onto the platform of the Leapmaster, letting the cobalt blue light whisk her away to Foxfire.

* * *

 

  “Guess what, Myst!” Evelina declared proudly to her best friend, Myst Song. “You wouldn’t ever believe it!”

  Myst narrowed her almond-shaped eyes in confusion, tossing her straight black hair over her shoulder. She tapped her head thoughtfully for a few seconds, thinking long and hard. “Hmm...Let me guess. Your mother finally seems like she loves you!” she said sarcastically, cocking her head at Evelina. Evelina rolled her eyes. Myst was smart, but she could seem so dense sometimes.

  Evelina and Myst had been together since Level One, and since then, they were the most inseparable best friends ever. Evelina always confessed her woes to Myst, and Myst did exactly the same.

  “Yeah, she did, but that’s not the main point!” Evelina told Myst, feeling a little annoyed. “Yes, it’s amazing, but what else? Think, Myst, think! You could do so much better than this, you know!”

  Myst scowled at her. “How am I supposed to think when your annoying chirpy voice comes on and breaks my train of thoughts?”

  Evelina shrugged. They were sitting in the assembly hall, waiting for Magnate Leto’s grumpy-looking face to appear on the screen that was located right smack-in-the-middle of the stage.

  Evelina glanced around at the huge number of colourful prodigies. There were prodigies dressed in black, prodigies dressed in blue, prodigies dressed in orange, prodigies dressed in green, prodigies dressed in red, and prodigies dressed in white. Well, there were also such things as prodigies dressed in silver and prodigies dressed in gold, but those ‘species’ of prodigies were now assembled each in their respective places, the Silver Tower and the Gold Tower.

  Evelina and Myst were Level Five, which meant they were the part of the number of prodigies dressed in green, the ones who were the age of fourteen.

Evelina rolled her eyes. “Never mind that. I’ll tell you when we’re free.”

  “We’re free now!” Myst protested.

  “I mean, when we’re free and alone.”

  “That sounds wrong. Very wrong, Lina.”

  “Whatever.”

  Evelina’s words had just escaped from her mouth when the screen lit up, and Magnate Leto’s face appeared on the big screen. Evelina stared at his face and started counting the number of eyelashes he had, which made her want to pluck out a loose eyelash from her eyes. She had inherited her mother’s nervous habit of tearing out her eyelashes. Once, Elwin saw her doing that and scolded her. She could tell Sophie annoyed him with that too.

  “A very good morning to all prodigies and Mentors. I have a few exciting announcements to make...”

  Evelina blanched. Whenever Magnate Leto said ‘exciting’, she knew it was going to be super horrifying.

  Magnate Leto continued by saying, “I would like to proudly announce that we have a new prodigy with us, joining us in Level Two this year. Would you gladly welcome, Ailill Vacker!”

  He snapped his fingers loudly, and a spotlight landed on a shy-looking boy in a blue Foxfire uniform.

 _He looks rather pathetic for a Vacker,_ Evelina mused, staring at Ailill. In fact, the whole school was staring at the new guy. Questions began to fill Evelina’s mind, and it seemed like the rest of the school was thinking the same thing as her.

_How come is he only joining Foxfire now?_

_What’s wrong with him?_

_I’ve never seen him before. Is he even a Vacker?_

  Magnate Leto cleared his throat, and everyone’s eyes switched back to the big screen. “Excuse me. Where are your manners? Is that how you welcome somebody to the school?”

  The prodigies lapsed into silence for a while, then started clapping loudly. Evelina joined in half-heartedly, and in the corner of her eye she saw Brennus.

  He wasn’t clapping.

* * *

 

  “Dude, what’s the big deal about that little Ailment—” Gandalf, one of Evelina’s friends said to her.

  “Ailill, you mean,” Evelina corrected, cutting Gandalf off. “But nice nickname. He does look a little poor and sick to me, if you ask me.”

  “Alright then. What’s the big deal about Ailill? Nobody even heard of him. He doesn’t even _look_ like a Vacker. Maybe he’s not a Vacker. Maybe—” Gandalf was about to continue when Brennus Vacker himself walked over to their little gang of prodigies, which consisted of Evelina, Myst, Gandalf, Hywel, and Terrentia.

  “Hey,” said Brennus, his teal eyes meeting Evelina’s ice-blue ones. Evelina blanched in surprise, then composed herself quickly, her eyes becoming steely.

  “Yes. What do you want?” she said in a hard voice, cocking her head mockingly at Brennus.

  Terrentia sniggered, and Myst elbowed her, making her yelp. But Myst was smiling evilly too.

  Everybody in the group knew that Evelina was the biggest hater of the Vackers, and Evelina made it a point that everyone also disliked them. She knew it was bad, but she was just trying to pay back what was done to her mother. Her mother might not be the most affectionate mother in the whole world, but Evelina thought she was the best mother in the Lost Cities. The gang told one another about their troubles and sympathized with everyone. That was what Evelina admired about all of them. They were all in this together.

  Now it was Brennus’s turn to look surprised. And a little hurt, Evelina observed. “So...um...yeah. You do know I’m meeting you after school, right? You’re coming to Everglen to meet us.”

  The whole group gasped in surprise. Evelina shot them all an apologetic look, and turned her attention back to Brennus. “Yes, I am. But only because my mother asked me too,” she said, narrowing her eyes at Brennus. “You do know what your father did to her, right? And then you’ll be sobbing so sadly in a dark, dark corner, all alone...”

  “So lonely...” The rest of them echoed. Evelina smirked when she saw Brennus squirm.

  She sighed. “Look, I’m just angry for what your family has done. If you know any better, don’t mention this to anyone else.”

  Brennus held her gaze for a while, then nodded. “Understood and reciprocated.”

  Evelina smiled slightly. “Good that you know. See you.”

  “See you,” Brennus said, then spun on his heel and walked away from them.

  Once he was gone, Myst, Gandalf, Hywel, and Terrentia pounced on Evelina mercilessly.

  “So that’s what you were trying to let me guess?” chuckled Myst. “Splendid!”

  On the other hand, Hywel wasn’t too happy. “Why didn’t you tell us?” he accused Evelina. “This is big, okay? What if you say the wrong thing to the Vackers?”

  Terrentia nodded. “Hywel is correct, Lina. This is big stuff here. I’m guessing by your face you only just heard of this, so first thing right after PE, meet me and Myst in one of the changing rooms. You are _so_ getting a makeover.” She eyed Evelina in approval. “Though you’re already looking stunning, you need more if you’re going to impress Brennus.”

  She and Myst exchanged a secret glance.

  Evelina frowned, confused. “Why do I need to do that? Dude, if you do one of your silly makeovers on me, I swear I will puke vomit all over you two. Anyways, if Brennus sees me like that, he’ll be the one who will vomit all over me, and then it’ll be all your fault!”

  The four of them exchanged a look again.

   Gandalf smirked and said to Myst, “So Evelina Sencen _does_ care about looking good for a Vacker, huh?”

  Myst nodded, returning the smirk. “And it’s no ordinary Vacker. It’s Brennus Vacker.”

  Evelina glared at them. “What the heck? One more time you do that creepy look, I’m going to pummel you.”

  Myst and Gandalf smiled again, and Evelina smacked herself on the forehead.

  “Angry that we accused her of a relationship,” Gandalf said, clicking his tongue.

  Myst shook her head sadly and dramatically. “Another sign of true love.”

  Evelina flushed in anger and embarrassment. “What? Are you guys really going to do this ‘I support this relationship between Evelina and Brennus’? You know we’re not meant to be. I hate him.”

  “No, you hate Fitz Vacker,” Hywel corrected, smiling. “But it’s quite different when it comes to his son, right?”

  “Quite different,” Terrentia agreed heartily. “Angst, then blushing. Whatever could be next?”

  Evelina cried out in frustration and slammed her locker, grabbing her books for her first lesson.

 “I really, really hate you all!” she grumbled as she stormed off to the classroom where her Mentor was waiting impatiently for her.

  Terrentia shrugged and smiled. “Angst, blushing, now storming away. Oh, this is getting exciting.” She vanished into thin air, then reappeared sitting on the lockers. “Myst,” she said to her friend. “Wanna do some ‘couple-watching’ after school?”

  Myst winked and nodded. “Never too happy to accept your request, Miss Heks,” she told Terrentia slyly.

  Suddenly, a sharp voice sounded behind them. “You four, get to your classes now! And Terrentia Heks, get off the poor lockers!”

  Terrentia leapt onto the ground and vanished, smiling to herself as she walked invisibly to her first lesson.

* * *

 

  “Hmm...Let’s see. Makeovers, massages...” Myst murmured as she rearranged her bottles of serums and lip gloss. Terrentia was holding a make-up brush in her left hand, ready to brush Evelina’s face.

  “Don’t know what a corsage is,” Evelina muttered, her voice gloomy as she swatted Terrentia’s brush away from her face for the millionth time. “Seriously guys, I still have my Telepathy lesson to attend, and Sir Tiergan will _flip_ when he sees me!”

  Myst winked at Terrentia. Evelina’s sharp eyes caught the gesture and she grew suspicious.

  “What?” she snapped.

  “Oh, have we not told you?” Myst said slyly. “We told Sir Tiergan to excuse you as we thought you were not feeling very well today. And so, we’re hauling you over to the Healing Center! Anyway, I do see a big cut on your left hand.”

  Evelina’s eyes darted to the injury on her left palm, and face-palmed herself.   She’d nearly forgotten about last night’s ordeal.

  “But seriously, are you okay? That scar looks pretty serious,” Terrentia asked anxiously.

  “Relax,” Evelina told her friend.

  Myst finished rearranging her make-up essentials and called out sharply, “Terre, the brush, please!”

  Terrentia tossed the brush over perfectly into the box of serums and Myst shut it up, locking it securely.

  “Allllrrriiiggghht then,” said Myst in satisfaction. “Off we go to the Healing Center. Elwin will be simply ecstatic to help us.”

  Evelina gave a start and tried to break free from Terrentia’s grasp, but stopped when Myst shot her a death glare. Obediently but reluctantly, she let Terrentia lug her over to the Healing Center.

  “Elwin!” Myst called out cheerily. “Good to see you. We’ve brought you Evelina here. Can you just watch over her and give us some advice while we beautify her?”

  Elwin peeked his head from where he was standing, rearranging his medicine bottles. He smiled. “Oh, hi, Evelina, Myst, Terrentia. What would you be doing here?” His iridescent glasses shimmered in the light.

  Evelina liked Elwin, but he would help in their devious schemes for sure.

  Terrentia said, “Evelina is meeting Brennus today after school and the whole family of Vackers at Everglen. We just wanted to tidy her up.”

  “More like, make me even uglier,” Evelina muttered.

  Elwin smiled at Myst and Terrentia slyly, winking. Myst winked back. 

  “Yeah, that’s what we’re planning to do.”

  “I would be happy to help you, girls,” Elwin said cheerfully. “Let me just finish this job here first before I go and check on you.”

  “Are. You. Serious?” Evelina complained as Myst opened her box of cosmetics and Terrentia placed a mirror in front of Evelina’s face.

  “You’ve got to look the best you can for him, Lina,” Myst soothed. Then she looked at Elwin. “Elwin, could you kindly pass me a bottle of Youth?”

  “Gladly,” Elwin said and obliged. Myst received the bottle with both hands and turned to Evelina, snapping her fingers. “Come on, open up.”

  Evelina obeyed reluctantly and drank up the bottle. The water was sweet and cold. At least that wasn’t so bad. But she knew it made her look prettier, so she scowled.

  “Perfecto,” Terrentia exclaimed happily as she applied blush-pink lipstick onto her lips. “Don’t worry, the lipstick can’t be seen unless you get really, really close.” She winked at Evelina.

  Evelina scowled again.

  “Pucker up,” said Terrentia sweetly. Evelina pressed her lips together.

  “That’s more like it,” Terrentia said, nodding, “I don’t think you need blush. You are a natural blusher.”

  “Thanks to my mum,” Evelina grumbled angrily.

  Elwin walked over to the three girls. “Wow, Evelina, you look nice! And yeah, you did inherit Sophie’s characteristics. You do look like her. But I have to say, you look more like Keefe. That boy.” He shook his head amusedly.

  “Um,” Evelina said, uncomfortable at the usage of her parents’ first names. Elwin cracked up.

  “There’s no need to feel like that, Evelina. You’re looking more like your parents each day after each day! I can literally see the both of them together in you.”

  “That’s creepy if you put if like that,” said Evelina, frowning as Myst came over and dabbed a little shimmery glitter on her eyelids. “Ew, Myst. Stop using that stuff.”

  Myst ignored her and continued adding the glitter on her eyelids.

  Evelina stood up abruptly when Myst finally pulled away _. “That’s it,_ I’m done.”

  Terrentia gasped. “Lina, you look amazing,” she remarked with awe. She pushed the mirror into Evelina’s hands. “Look for yourself!”

  Evelina frowned, then held the mirror in front of herself. She couldn’t help but gasp at herself too.

  Terrentia wasn’t lying, she really did look stunning. Terrentia had redid her hair in such a way that it was done up in a bun, with a few strands of wavy hair floating beside her face. Her eyes were tinged with a little blue that matched perfectly with her eyes, and the shimmer made her eyes sparkle brightly, bringing out the best in them. Her lips were smooth and filled with pink, but not the kind of pink that made her look silly. It made her look fresher and more natural.

  “Smile,” Myst instructed Evelina. Evelina curled her lips up, and was amazed by how much the smile added to her appearance.

  “Yes, girls, you really did a perfect job with her. You made her look much prettier, but made it look so fresh and natural that it doesn’t seem to go too far. I like it,” Elwin praised as he tended to Evelina’s scar on her left hand, applying a balm to her hand, making the cut disappear magically.

Evelina blushed. “Thanks, Elwin.”

  “Brennus will _flip_ in a good way when he sees you!” Terrentia gushed. “For sure!”

  Evelina remembered what the makeover was for, and scowled. “Damn it, you two.”

  “Don’t scowl,” Myst advised Evelina, blowing her a kiss, “smile.”


	3. chapter the third

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the fateful night which changed everything.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me, right?" Evelina grumbled as Terrentia raked a hand through her hand, looking completely stressed out.

Terrentia shook her head sadly. "I'm sorry, Lina, I can't join you and Brennus today. Me and Myst are having bonding time together at my house and we won't be coming with you to the Leapmaster to see Brennus. Sorry again, Lina."

"Anyway," Myst added, "it's not like we are invited to Everglen, are we?"

"It would totally be so rude and humiliating for us, and even though I _am_ considered one of them, but I have better things to do," agreed Terrentia heartily.

"Agreed, Terre," Myst said, looking at her friend intently. Terrentia didn't say anything but Evelina knew she and Myst were hiding something.

Her best friends had forgotten who she was.

Evelina smiled smugly and flicked a strand of blonde hair over her ear, her hair still tied up by the pretty bun that Terrentia had made for her.

She could feel Myst's and Terrentia's spirits go up giddily and frowned suspiciously. As an Empath—and a powerful one at that—she could feel everyone's feelings if they were close to her.

Myst and Terrentia were _definitely_ up to something today.

 _"_ _Whatever,"_ Evelina drawled out, dryness dripping from her voice so much that she was surprised the two of them were still so oblivious not to notice her suspicious tone in her voice. "It's getting late. I had better meet that Vacker boy now or else I fear that he would scream and shout into my face until I am completely deaf."

She started walking to the Leapmaster when she suddenly spun on her heel and gave the two giggly girls a look. They stopped when they received her expression that was shot at them.

"Oh yeah, Mist, Terrentia?" Evelina asked innocently, using a sugary tone to talk to her friends.

"Yeah?" They replied nonchalantly, not really looking at Evelina or even focused on their conversation. _No doubt planning some devious schemes,_ Evelina thought suspiciously. She decided to give them a warning.

"Don't do anything silly." With that, she whirled back and started strutting over to the crowd of colourful prodigies.

* * *

Myst came over closer to Terrentia and leaned on her shoulder, tapping her foot on the ground in a steady, thoughtful beat. "Hmm..." They watched Evelina walk confidently over to Brennus as Brennus waved his hand at Evelina. Evelina just swatted it away and started speaking to him.

"Do you think she knows we're planning something?" Myst asked Terrentia curiously.

Terrentia rolled her eyes. Sometimes she thought Myst could be so dense when it came to this kind of things. She was a whiz at Foxfire lessons, but when it concerned real-life problems, she couldn't even come up with a decent explanation for the motive of the cause.

"Of course, duh," Terrentia agreed, feeling thrilled as she watched the two people converse stiffly. Brennus was looking at Evelina the whole time, even when they were not talking. "Come on, let's go!"

She vanished, and touched Myst's arm lightly, making Myst disappear too. That was Terrentia's special addition of her Vanishing ability, just like how Evelina was different from the other Empaths and Telepaths, being able to do things normal Empaths and Telepaths couldn't. Terrentia had inherited this queer but amazing ability from her mother, who was Evelina's mother's best friend.

Both her father and her mother had been from the Black Swan, and that was what made Terrentia different from the other elves in the Lost Cities.

People didn't trust her. Once upon a time, the Black Swan was considered an evil thing that wasn't supposed to exist, but it did. The Council had mistaken the Black Swan for the bad guys, and instead of going after the Neverseen, they went after the Black Swan instead.

They headed towards Brennus and Evelina, who were walking in the direction of the Leapmaster, where tens and tens of prodigies were gathering around. They dispersed abruptly into small little groups as Brennus placed a hand onto Evelina's shoulder awkwardly.

"D'aww..." Myst remarked, swooning at the romantic gesture while Terrentia just watched on with empty eyes, her heart not really in the mission anymore.

She was thinking about _herself._

She had her best friends, but would anyone else ever accept the way she was—on her own?

Her family didn't define who she was. _She_ herself defined who she was. Her personality, her actions, everything.

But definitely not her family.

Terrentia just wished people wouldn't judge others just because of their family background. But she knew in such a noble society like the Lost Cities ruled by the prestigious Council, that hope was close to impossible.

She tugged at her auburn hair halfheartedly as she blinked her teal eyes slowly, watching Evelina shrug her shoulder away from Brennus. Two of the most popular prodigies in the academy. But maybe Evelina would understand—her mother was just like her parents, anyway—maybe even worse.

But it was hard to hate Vackers when her mother was one too.

But Evelina understood.

She understood Terrentia's situation and didn't neglect or hate her for that.

And that was what Terrentia admired about Evelina the most.

Then Myst's sharp, horrified gasp snapped Terrentia out of her daze. "Oh my gosh, Terre. Look! Whatever is Brennus doing? That's simply terrible!"

Terrentia gazed at the place where her friend was pointing at with a shaking finger—then her eyes flew wide open in shock.

"Didn't know he was such a horrible person," Terrentia muttered in disgust as she watched the disturbing scene. "That's it, I'm changing my mind about letting this guy be tied to our dear Lina. She doesn't deserve—wait, no, Brennus doesn't deserve Evelina at all. We're going to make sure Brennus Vacker regrets even setting his eyes on her, aren't we, Mystie?"

"Hell right you are," Myst agreed. "But I want more proof first. Let's continue, shall we?"

* * *

Evelina took in a sharp breath as she took each step by each step towards the Leapmaster, her eyes occasionally scanning the crowd for a certain, tall, dark-haired, teal-eyed Vacker.

 _Where in the world could that bratty boy be?_ Evelina thought, slightly annoyed. Then she spotted a small, frightened-looking boy looking around the crowd too like her. _Hey, isn't that Ailill? If that small dude's his brother, maybe he should know better about where he could be!_

Evelina closed her eyes for a second, bracing herself to be nice, then plastered a smile onto her lips and wove through the crowd, heading for Ailill.

She flashed a bright radiant smile as she approached the Level Two prodigy. "Hi, Ailill," she started the conversation simply, looking at him warmly.

_Oh great, I was just being nice to him. Ah, who cares? He's innocent._

Ailill looked up at Evelina, a look of confusion on his face. "Um, do I know you?" he asked quietly, a tone of questioning in his voice. "And, no offense, but why do you have so much makeup on your face?"

_Okay, maybe not so innocent._

Evelina stifled the urge to shout at Ailill, but her anger didn't fade. She stared at Ailill, glaring at him in the eye.

"Listen, little guy. I don't know why you have such bad manners—especially for a Vacker—but it's none of my business, because I'm having dinner with your family and after this night, we'll just be total strangers. So I'm waiting for this Whatchamallit Vacker and I'm assuming you are too. And, you should know better to insult an older prodigy, _Ailill Vacker."_

"Sorry," mumbled Ailill, his emotions a jumble. Evelina pursed her lips.

Just then, Brennus came up to them and smiled at Evelina. "Hello, Evelina," he said. Evelina tried not to mind his eyes scanning her appearance from head to toe, and the feelings that came with it. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go." He offered Evelina a hand, and Evelina in return slapped it.

He winced in pain. "Why did you do that?"

Evelina narrowed her eyes. "Be kinder to Ailill, okay? You're being a very bad big brother."

"He's not my brother," Brennus mumbled. Evelina raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"Excuse me?" she asked, her voice dripping with venom.

"HE'S NOT MY BROTHER!" Brennus shouted, clenching his fists so angrily that they were practically trembling. His scream attracted many people to turn their attention to him—and he offered them an apologetic smile.

Evelina turned to Ailill, whose eyes were filled with fresh tears. "Are you alright?"

Ailill shook his head, glaring at Brennus defiantly. "No. But thanks. Excuse me," he muttered, sprinting off in the other direction, wiping his tears on his arms as he ran off miserably.

Evelina looked at Brennus dangerously. "I don't care if he's your brother or not. But since he seems to be considered one of your family members, at least treat him nicely. I've always taken a disliking to you, Brennus Vacker, but you went too far this time. I've completely lost your respect for you."

"Evelina—" Brennus started but Evelina silenced him by putting out a hand.

"I don't want to hear it. I don't want to hear your excuses. From right now, consider me as a hater of you and your father. But I'll still put up an act that will show otherwise so that it won't attract attention and displeasure. Now," she said, her voice suddenly turning from serious to sweet, "can we board the Leapmaster?"

Brennus nodded silently, absentmindedly placing his hand on Evelina's shoulder. Evelina smiled slightly and shrugged it off slowly, then pushing his hand into her right hand, smirking when he stiffened.

"Stop it," she instructed him softly. "If you want to be a gentleman, at least act like one."

At her words, Brennus's palm relaxed into Evelina's grasp, and together, they stepped onto the platform of the Leapmaster.

Still holding on to Evelina's hand, Brennus shouted, "Everglen!" and let the light whisk him and Evelina away to the Vacker's residence.

* * *

Evelina shrieked and let go of Brennus's hand abruptly, using her arms to shield her eyes from the blinding light of the glowing pristine gates.

"Why is this place so bright?" she muttered, scowling when Brennus laughed. "What? Don't you think so too?"

"You may hate me, but I still don't," he said. "I actually find you quite amusing, despite your serious threats—"

"I have a feeling you're not taking me seriously," Evelina murmured, sagging.

"—and you're actually not that bad when you don't frown or scowl. Yeah, I used to think this place was bright, but once I got used to it, it wasn't that bad anymore. You'll see."

"Why the heck would I get used to it? Listen, Wonderboy, I'm not going to come here a second time—you'll see."

The only response she got back was a laugh and Brennus's reply, "Like I said, you're amusing. You remind me of someone too."

Evelina snorted. "Let me guess—Dex Dizznee?"

"How did you know?"

"He and my mother are best friends—and me and his child are friends too! And, he's like, the best! At least we share one thing in common, right? He calls your father Wonderboy too, and that's like, totally amazing of him!"

Brennus raised an eyebrow. "You sound like he's your idol or something. But whatever, don't mention him to my father. He and Dex hate each other or something and try to show off to each other everytime."

Evelina laughed—a genuine laugh—and smiled at him.

Brennus snapped his fingers. _"That's_ what I was talking about. You look much better when you smile."

Evelina flushed, heat creeping up her cheeks, too embarrassed to say anything to that. Instead, she held her head down, and brisk walked until she was directly in front of the double gates.

Evelina reached the gates, and squinting, she saw a doorbell hidden slightly by a patch of ivory plants and she pressed it before Brennus could say anything else.

A few seconds later, the gates swung open and a silhouette of a woman appeared, getting closer by each second. The shadows turned lighter as she stepped towards Evelina and Brennus.

"Oh, I'm so glad to see you home again, Brennus! And this lovely girl must be Evelina, Sophie's and Keefe's daughter, am I right? It's such a pleasure to meet you!"

Evelina couldn't help but smile at Brennus's mother's cheeriness towards everyone. "Same to you, Ms. Vacker," she replied politely, flashing a bright grin towards her.

"Oh, no worries. And call me Aurelia, please," she said, lifting her iridescent glasses up to look at her with beautiful greyish-blue eyes.

"Alright then, Aurelia," Evelina laughed. "Thanks for having me, anyway!"

_Wow, Aurelia is so nice—maybe Vackers aren't that bad after all._

"It's no trouble. You are completely welcome here, and my husband was expecting you to come either way. Come in, both of you." When Brennus and Evelina were halfway into the premises of Everglen, she stopped and gave Brennus a curious look. "Bren, where's Ailill? I did tell you to come home with him, right? Don't tell me you ditched him during the first day of school."

Brennus shifted uncomfortably, clearly at a loss of words. Evelina sighed softly and shook her head slightly in disapproval. He clearly didn't know how to lie properly. Evelina's dad, being a master prankster and an Empath like Evelina, had taught Evelina how to pull off that kind of things without an Empath detecting her lies.

"Um, it's like that, Mum...I couldn't find Ailill. Probably was caught up with the crowds or something." Brennus laughed nervously. Evelina saw Aurelia purse her lips. Uh-oh. Aurelia looked disbelieving.

"Really? And being a big brother, you should have waited for him or at least try to find him. But you didn't. You left him alone. I'm ashamed of you, Brennus. But I don't like to scold you in front of our guest—so, you're off the hook for now. However, brace yourself for a lengthy lecture after dinner."

Brennus sighed and apologised, "Sorry, Mum."

Aurelia took his hand. "You are forgiven—but it's Ailill you should apologise to, not me. Go and get his forgiveness after he returns."

As soon as her words left her mouth, footsteps were heard behind the three of them and when Evelina turned around, she saw Ailill standing soundlessly on the lawn.

"I'm home," he said quietly, not looking at Brennus. His nose was slightly pink, but Aurelia didn't seem to notice as she bounded towards him and threw her arms around the little elf affectionately.

"Oh, thank goodness you are. Come on, let's go inside before you get a cold. It's pretty chilly outside, and I do spot a tint of pink on your nose. Are you starting to get one yourself? Evelina, Brennus, take the lead while I tend to Ailill."

"Umm..." Evelina murmured as she took a few unsure steps forward, as she didn't know where to go. Brennus slipped his hand into hers and she tensed at the gesture.

"And you were the one who said to me to relax when you took my hand," Brennus chuckled, a tinge of humour in his voice. "Looks like I'm not the only one." He started to walk towards the door that opened to the Everglen building, leading Evelina, Ailill, and Aurelia too.

Evelina didn't say anything when a strong surge of jealousy shot into her body, making her double over, clutching her gut painfully.

Brennus steadied her, holding her by the shoulders. "Evelina? Are you alright?"

Aurelia seemed to share the same sentiment as she came over and asked the same question to Evelina, shooting her a concerned look.

Evelina managed a smile, and made it look as natural as possible. "I'm fine. Really."

Aurelia breathed a sigh of relief and went back again to Ailill.

Another strong surge of jealousy travelled into her body again, but this time Evelina tried to hold it back in. Thankfully, Aurelia didn't notice this time. But Brennus—who was grasping Evelina's hand (even though Evelina was uncomfortable about it)—felt her discomfort and asked, "Are you really fine?"

Evelina ignored his question, and looked into his teal eyes. They were bright, but Evelina didn't find any appeal in them as she asked him slowly, "Are you jealous?"

Brennus frowned, and Evelina could feel fear coursing through him. "What?"

"I said, are you jealous?" Evelina repeated her question one more time. "Jealous of Aurelia spending more time with Ailill now rather than you? You were an only child before he suddenly came, right? And I'm guessing he's adopted."

Brennus fell silent for a while, and Evelina could sense his conflict of emotions raging inside of him. After what seemed like an eternity—but in reality was only five seconds or so—he replied, "Yes."

Evelina said, "Jealousy is a horrible, gory thing. It erases positive emotions and replace them with negative ones, and cause you to do bad things to the person you supposedly hate—but actually, it's just jealousy taking its course and trying to manipulate you."

Brennus smiled gratefully at her, and they walked in silence until they were inside the living room.

"My aunt Biana is here too," Brennus told Evelina, nodding towards a beautiful woman whose dark chocolate-brown hair cascaded down in waves and teal eyes that matched with her dress that reached down to her knees.

Evelina sighed. "Oh, how I wish Terrentia was here too," she said wistfully, thinking of her friend. She was Biana's daughter, so she was technically one of them, but Evelina didn't really hate her for that. She was starting to think that they weren't so bad after all.

"Don't worry, her father didn't come too," he assured her, trying to comfort her. "But I think you should go and say hi to aunt Biana."

Evelina didn't budge.

Brennus nudged her. "If you think it's going to be scary talking to her, I'll accompany you there, okay?"

That wasn't why she was scared, but...

"Whatever," Evelina said, resounded, and let Brennus tag along as she walked over to the dark-haired beauty sitting with her brother, the person she hoped never to see.

Fitz Vacker.

Evelina braced herself and took a deep breath. Her nerves jumbled with fear and trepidation as she approached them appraisingly, her tongue tied.

"Hello, Aunt Biana. Hi, Daddy," Brennus greeted Fitz and Biana warmly, smiling. He must've sensed that Evelina was nervous. The two siblings looked up and caught Evelina's eye.

Evelina felt that that was her cue to say something to them to break the ice between the four of them—three of them were Vackers. This was going to be interesting.

"Lord Vacker and Lady Vacker," Evelina said, her lips curving up slightly. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She dipped a slight bow.

 _How I wish I didn't have to do that,_ Evelina thought with malice and spite.

Biana broke into a warm smile. "Hey, isn't this Sophie's and Keefe's daughter?" she asked Fitz, scrutinizing Evelina so intently that Evelina wanted so badly to squirm.

The urge to do that intensified when Fitz turned his attention to Evelina too. Evelina could feel his emotions jumble up and go down. "Yeah," he confirmed, a faint smile on his face. But he outstretched his arms—Biana doing the same—as if wanting an embrace. "Come on, Brennus, and, uh..."

"Evelina," said Evelina, squashing the urge to slap his face.

Fitz smiled apologetically. "Right, Evelina." He and Biana pulled Brennus and Evelina into a tight hug, wrapping their arms around them.

After a moment, they pulled away, and Biana set her hands on Evelina's shoulders. "Oh, look at you now," she said with awe. "You were so small now. You're growing up to be a heartbreaker like your mum, aren't I right, Fitz?" She rubbed her hands and looked at her brother.

The choice of words made both Evelina and Fitz shift uncomfortably.

_Heartbreaker._

Evelina knew that Biana didn't mean it that way, but it still brought up bitter feelings. Evelina could feel the tension between her and Fitz rise.

Fitz coughed unnaturally. "Yeah," he said with a faint voice.

Biana and Brennus seemed to detect the awkwardness too, because Biana spoke up and said, "Well, I must get going—and you all too. Dinner is ready. It was definitely fabulous to meet you, Evelina."

Evelina gave her a small smile.

And Brennus said to Fitz, "Dad, I think you had better go and meet the others."

Fitz smiled at his son gratefully and he went away in the other direction, leaving Brennus and Evelina alone together.

Brennus sat down on a green beanbag while Evelina rested her body on a aquamarine-blue one. They sat like that for a few minutes before Brennus spoke.

"You really don't like my dad, do you?" His tone of question wasn't demanding or angry. He just sounded...wistful. And maybe a little confused and disappointed.

Evelina nodded. "And it's not like he really likes me or something," she pointed out.

"That's true," he agreed.

Evelina sighed and adjusted her seating arrangement so she could face Brennus. Despite the fact that he was a total jerk to his younger brother...he wasn't that bad. Not as bad as Evelina thought he had been. And his family was so kind and caring, and except for Fitz, they didn't seem to be really uncomfortable around her.

It made Evelina feel...like this could have been her family.

Evelina shook her head at that thought. It was too early to think such thoughts—and that was why she was going to grab this chance and find out more about them—and not only to home in on Fitz—but it was also to get a chance to know them better—and see if they were really the jerks Evelina thought they were—once upon a time.

* * *

Evelina stabbed at her food with her fork uncomfortably and tried to ignore the stares the Vackers were giving her. She exchanged a look with Brennus, and shot him a pleading expression that seemed to say, _Help me!_

Brennus shrugged and continued eating his food like nothing had happened. Evelina gritted her teeth angrily and tried to calm down.

Alden and Biana were the only cheerful ones. "So, Evelina," Alden said to the girl, "what's your special ability?"

Evelina smiled. This was one thing she enjoyed talking about the most. "Well, actually I have two. I'm both a Telepath and an Empath." She ignored the gasps and curious sounds from the children sitting directly in front of her.

"Hmm, I see, so you've inherited your Telepathy skills from Sophie, and your Empathy skills from Keefe," murmured Biana in understanding. "That's wonderful. Are you, like, super strong in both?"

Evelina nodded. "Yeah, I am," she said modestly. "Like my father, I can sense other people's emotions from far. But I don't have an impenetrable mind like my mother, though—although I wish I had one. But I can read almost anybody's mind."

Brennus raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" he asked, and the people's attention directed to him. "So can you tell me what I'm thinking?"

"Brennus, don't be naïve," Alden laughed. "She's the daughter of two very talented elves—are you sure you can match up with her?"

Brennus didn't say anything, but he held his head high as he shot a look of defiance and challenge towards Evelina.

Evelina smiled, although inside her stomach was churning. Brennus was one of the strongest Telepaths, like his father. But she was too, and she probably could scrape through if she pushed hard enough.

"Alright then, if you insist," Evelina muttered and closed her eyes, mustering her concentration and strength.

She reached out her consciousness to Brennus's—and passed through his mental barriers easily with no effort.

Brennus's mental voice swept through her head like a breeze.

Evelina's eyes widened in surprise at the thought Brennus was thinking. Did she really have to say that to the whole family of Vackers? She would put Brennus in shame!

Instead, she transmitted to Brennus, _Seriously? You want me to say that horrible thing in front of your whole family?_

Brennus transmitted back, _Just do it._

 _Ailill is there. You can't!_ Evelina felt defiant.

 _Who cares?_ Brennus transmitted.

 _Fine, fine, fine. But let me transmit to Ailill first,_ Evelina gave in. But she had a trick up her sleeve as she transmitted to Ailill, _Ailill._

Ailill's eyes flew wide open and he looked around.

_Don't do that. It's Evelina. Brennus is making me say something bad about you in front of your whole family, but in actual fact, I'm going to say that I couldn't hear anything, okay?._

Ailill's face went white and he nodded rigidly.

Evelina opened her eyes and bit her lip. Facing Brennus with a death glare, she uttered, "I couldn't hear anything."

Brennus gasped and he looked at Evelina in betrayal. "That's not true! She heard something!"

Evelina looked at him. "Well, yes. I did hear his thoughts, but they were so horrible and hurting that I couldn't bear to say it." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Stop trying to abuse Ailill."

Fitz gasped, "What?" So did the other people in the dining area, except for Ailill, who sat there, soundless, and Brennus, silent too.

Evelina finished her food that was on the plate and handed it to the gnome to wash it. "I must take my leave now. It was a pleasure meeting all of you."

Before she could walk even one step, Brennus called out, "Wait!"

Evelina turned his gaze to him and cocked her head. "Yes?"

"I...I'll walk you to the Leapmaster."

Before Evelina could reply, Aurelia said quietly, "Someone besides Brennus, please."

The hurt look on Brennus's face made Evelina look away. The emotions radiating off him were too strong for Evelina and she doubled over, making a retching sound.

"Excuse me," she said with a faint voice. "But I think I'm going to be sick."

A small voice spoke up. "I'll go with you," Ailill said, clearing up his plate and handing it to the gnome too.

He held Evelina's hand and led her to the washroom, and Evelina vomited all of her dinner into the dustbin. She felt nauseous as she tied up the plastic bag and handed it to a gnome to do away with it. Ailill then gave Evelina a few medicine bottles to drink. Evelina swallowed all of them and the sweet syrups flowed into her stomach, making her feel better.

Evelina then followed Ailill towards the exit, leaving the dining room. They walked together in total silence for a few seconds, then Ailill stopped and spoke up, making Evelina stop in her tracks too.

"Evelina?"

"Yeah?"

"...Thank you."

It was a few seconds before Evelina replied, "You're welcome." 


	4. chapter the fourth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which evelina loses her memories and regains a washed one in return.

Evelina appeared in the pastures of her home and let the long strands of green grass tickle her legs as they swayed in the gentle wind slowly.

The weight of everything that had just happened suddenly came rushing down on her shoulders and she felt slightly sick as she descended onto the bed of grass, lying on her back and letting the grass tickle her skin.

Evelina stared up at the sky, which was darkening and shades of pink, red, orange, and yellow filled the sky and the dim orange glow from the sun illuminated the sky no more. The first signs of the Moon were starting to appear and the edges of the sky of Evelina's vision were starting to turn blackish-blue.

It seemed so magical to Evelina.

She sighed and stayed that way for a few more moments, just staring up at the sky and laying down on the grass, feeling peace and tranquility fill her heart and soothe her body down, washing away the dizziness and hurt emotions she had because of Brennus.

Evelina's eyes flickered to a shimmering star that was starting to occupy the spreading darkness. Was Brennus mad at her? Probably. Did he deserve it? Yes. Was that worth it? Of course. Even if Brennus had his own troubles with jealousy, he shouldn't take it out—and especially not on poor Ailill.

Still, Evelina could remember vividly his hurt face when Aurelia had rejected him.

It was so hard to hate him when he looked like that.

Soft footsteps interrupted her train of thoughts, and Sophie came up from behind.

"Oh, you're here," she said.

Evelina didn't turn around or stand up.

Sophie walked towards Evelina, and lay down beside her on the grass. She looked at Evelina. "What are you thinking about?"

Evelina hesitated, then said, "About the thing that happened this morning. And...last night. I just wanted to say sorry."

That hadn't been what she was thinking about, but Evelina thought she ought to say something to her mother.

Sophie's lips curled up slightly as she turned to look Evelina in the eye. "Lina, it wasn't your fault." Her warm brown eyes surprised Evelina.

The nickname. And the warmth in her eyes. Too unlike her mother's usual behaviour. But Evelina was grateful for the change—and it was a good change that she liked.

Evelina swallowed the lump in her throat. "Maybe not the incident this morning. But the one last night. That was my fault. I always did that—remember? I kept crushing the things that were near me. And you were always awoken by the loud shattering noise—and when you found out that it was me, you were so upset. That was my fault too." Her voice hitched on the last sentence and Sophie looked at her in alarm.

"Evelina, look at me," Sophie pleaded. "It's not your fault. Okay?"

"But—" Evelina started to say, but Sophie cut her off in a hurry.

"No," Sophie told her firmly, though there was a tremble in her voice. "I'll repeat this again. It's. Not. Your. Fault. You _cannot_ let yourself believe that. You will break of guilt! No! Alright?" Her eyes were filled with fresh tears, but Evelina could feel grief and something else. She closed her eyes, opening her mind to Sophie's consciousness, but her mind hit an empty wall.

Right. She forgot her mother had an impenetrable mind.

Sophie caught her daughter's arm. "Why are you reading my mind? Do you not trust me? Or do you not understand something? You just can't. Okay? I can't tell you why I'm so insistent on this, but...do it for me, can you?"

"I...Is it because of Alden?" Evelina asked quietly, looking at her mother.

Sophie's eyes became glassy again, but she shook her head. "Partly, but no. I...I can't tell you. Promise you'll do that?"

She looked away.

Evelina took a deep breath and pushed the confusion away from her mind. "I promise."

Sophie gave her a grateful smile and took her hand. Together, they watched the sky turn from light to dusk.

Evelina's father came up from behind. "What are you two ladies doing?" he asked teasingly. "Watching time slip away like that?"

Sophie sat up, turned around and stuck out her tongue playfully at Keefe. "It's _bonding time._ Between mother and child. Pfft. Wait. You wouldn't understand."

Keefe's eyes blanked and he looked away. "Yeah...I wouldn't."

Sophie fell silent, and Evelina felt the grief between the two of them.

Keefe came over and gripped Sophie's hands tightly, staring into her eyes as he whispered, "You know I would never do that to you again."

Sophie nodded, blinking away tears as they closed the distance between each other.

Evelina coughed, and they pulled away faster than she thought they would.

"Hey, there's an innocent child here," she said, a tone of disgust in her voice.

Keefe and Sophie smiled at Evelina.

"And what do we have here? How was your visit, kiddo?" Keefe asked affectionately as he rubbed Evelina's head, successfully messing up her hairdo. Evelina cheered inwardly and a bright smile stretched her lips instantly.

"For the first time in forever, I love it that you messed up my hair," Evelina exclaimed.

Keefe erupted in giddy screams. "YEAH! FINALLY!" he shouted, jumping around.

Sophie frowned, but she looked amused as she pulled Keefe down. "Hey, you're not a little kid anymore, remember? Remember how hyper you were when you discovered Fitz was snuggling Mr. Snuggles in bed?"

Keefe burst into cheers and hysterical giggles. "Oh, yeah! He is _so_ going to get reminded of this when I see him again."

For the first time, Sophie didn't seem to tense at Fitz's mention. "You torture him too much, I'm sure he's already tired of it."

Keefe laughed. "That's my ulterior motive!" He tugged Sophie and Evelina up and pulled them around in circles until Evelina felt slightly dizzy—and judging by the sudden nausea she felt beside her, she knew that Sophie was feeling worse. "But he can't get rid of me—I need him and Dex to survive in a family of girls!"

"Hey, are Evelina and I that exasperating?" Sophie asked him with a tinge of offense in her voice.

"Yeah, you are. Girls always are."

Evelina told Keefe, "Um. Girls rule, boys drool! You're welcome."

Keefe pouted. "What, you're on her side?" he complained.

Evelina rolled her eyes. "What, do you think I would actually support the opposite gender when I can support mine?"

"Gender inequality is probably all because of girls then," Keefe declared.

"What a misconception," Sophie told him, and yanked her hand away, then running towards the house.

Keefe and Evelina exchanged a mischievous look, then Keefe whispered, "1, 2, 3!" And they set off running to chase Sophie. Evelina's father made Evelina yelp as he ran so fast that Evelina's shorter legs couldn't catch up with his longer ones. But it was all worth it when Keefe grabbed hold of Sophie's left wrist tightly, making her shriek in surprise. The look on her face made Keefe and Evelina laugh. But the laughs fell short when Sophie's face contorted in agony.

"Foster, what's wrong?" Keefe asked her, holding her in his arms as she clutched her wrist so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"It hurts," she said through gritted teeth.

Evelina felt worry coursing through both her body and Keefe's. And looking at her father's anxious expression, she knew he felt her worry too. And of course, the two Empaths could feel Sophie's pain running through both of them.

"I'll go hail Elwin," Evelina said hurriedly as she ran to get the house's Imparter, and she saw worry reflected into her ice-blue eyes which were reflected on the crystal screen as she whispered, "Show me Elwin."

Elwin came over in around three minutes and followed Evelina into Sophie's bedroom, where Sophie was lying on the plush bed, squeezing a bright blue ridiculously old plush elephant toy, while Keefe sat on the side of the bed, grasping her right hand softly.

"Is Mum going to be alright?" Evelina asked softly, mainly to herself. But Elwin caught her voice, and squeezed Evelina's hand comfortingly.

"Don't worry, Evelina. She's going to be as right as rain."

"Yep, Elwin's awesome," Keefe butted in. "He's even better than Physic, who—let's just say she's just like me!"

Sophie raised her eyebrows. "Sure," she said sarcastically. "Physic is _just_ like you."

"Hey, it's true and you know it!"

"Well," Elwin said, coming over to Sophie's left side, "I have absolutely no idea who Physic is, but I'm sure if we ever meet, we'll be good friends."

Keefe grinned at Elwin. "You _will,_ trust me."

Elwin ignored that, and turned over to Sophie. "Now, won't you let me see that broken wrist?"

Sophie nodded faintly and lifted her left hand to show Elwin, wincing a little when she did so. Elwin examined it, flashing different colours of orbs of light while doing so. Evelina watched in fascination, the different colours of light illuminating her face, making her feel enchanted. She had always wanted to become a Flasher, but none of her parents were one, which made it almost impossible.

"Hmm...This broken wrist is pretty bad, but with a few bone-healing serums taken once a day, I think you'll be alright—just give it time," Elwin told Sophie, giving her a bottle of Youth to drink.

Sophie downed the glass in one gulp—which made Evelina look away, gagging, and said, "You remind me of Alden—and he used to say that to me when I was, what? Thirteen? Or I might have been fourteen at that time, thanks to the confusing inception date."

"I'm fifteen and five months old now," Evelina told Elwin.

His eyebrows shot up, and Evelina wanted to laugh at the dumbfounded look on his face. "What? What's so shocking?"

"Nothing," he said. "It's just that most elves don't care about their age—much less count even the number of months they have been in their mother's womb."

"Well," Evelina laughed. "You have to thank my mum for that. She cares about her age too, but I can't remember hers for life. What's yours again, Mum?"

Sophie smiled at Evelina, then lifted her head to look at Elwin, who was applying a sandy balm to her wrist. "I used to count my age by how the humans do, but now I changed and I'm now thirty-nine and seven months old."

"Wow, that's super old and I can't even remember mine," Keefe sighed dramatically, patting Sophie's back.

Sophie sent him a death glare. "Old? Well, _young man,_ for your information, you are the same age as me."

Elwin and Evelina chuckled at that, but Evelina stopped laughing when Keefe said with a sugary voice, "That's why we're together" and lifted Sophie's good hand to his lips.

Evelina looked away instantly, making a retching sound. "I still don't understand why adults would do that."

"Not only adults, Lina," Keefe told her mischievously. "Teenagers, too. You sure you hadn't did it before?"

Evelina shot him a dirty look. "Ew, no! I'm not Elmira Babblos, trying to get Brennus Vacker's attention every time she's in school, alright? I'm not that disgusting, trust me."

Keefe smiled. "You have been talking about Brennus a whole lot these days, haven't you?"

Elwin nodded in agreement. "She cared so much about meeting him, now, didn't you, Evelina?"

Sophie frowned in confusion. "Has she? I thought she hated him with a burning passion, didn't you, Evelina?"

The questions peppered at Evelina gave her a lasting headache, and pink flushed her cheeks as she denied, "No."

Sophie looked at her quizzically. "You _don't_ hate Brennus with a burning passion now? Hmm, that's a great improvement for Evelina, don't you think so, Keefe?"

Before Evelina's father could reply, Evelina threw her hands up in defeat. "NO! I mean, I have _not_ been talking about Brennus a whole lot these days, and I do _not_ care about our meeting, and I _still_ hate him with a burning passion or whatever you call it! Why doesn't anyone understand that we. Are. Not. A. Couple?!"

"And we never will be," she added after a heated pause.

Nobody said anything about Brennus and Evelina after that.

* * *

Hywel Dizznee looked at Evelina curiously as she stormed to her locker, flinging it open with great force after she had smeared her saliva onto the metal piece.

"Are you alright?" he asked Evelina. "You seem very disturbed today."

Evelina shot him a grateful smile. "Yeah. . .It's just that—WHY IN THE WORLD DOES NOBODY UNDERSTAND ME?"

"Then I guess they're stupid for not listening to you," Hywel said quietly.

Evelina smiled at him. "You _do_ realise you're insulting yourself and calling yourself stupid, don't you?"

"Yeah, I do," Hywel admitted. "And I realised my mistake, Lina. I shouldn't have made fun of you and Brennus being a couple—I should've known how sensitive you are with Vackers and would never want to hear this piece of news."

"I'm so glad you finally understand," Evelina gushed gratefully, feeling relieved as her heart lifted slightly. "Okay. One down, three to go. Thanks, Hywel!"

"One more thing," Hywel cut in before Evelina could skip merrily away from him. His smirk was wickedly evil as he said, "That doesn't mean I don't ship Brevelina, though."

He was walking away before Evelina could say anything.

Evelina stared at him as he walked away proudly, her mouth gaping wide open. After a moment, she shook her head helplessly. "I guess that means it's back to square one. Zero down, four to go. And what the hell is Brevelina!? That's an awful name—one more reason why we shouldn't get together!"

She muttered things like, 'curse Brevelina' and 'Hywel is soooo going down' as she strutted down the hall, carrying a mountain of books—okay, not really a mountain—it was only two or three or four thick books that she had to return to the Level Five Librarian.

Suddenly, she bumped into someone she couldn't see and fell back onto the ground—the books toppling and crashing onto the ground. One hit her left thigh, and she cried out in pain as she clutched her leg like a baby.

Evelina lifted her head to see who she had bumped into, and scowled. It was Elmira Babblos, in her full-fledged glory as she looked down haughtily at Evelina.

"Well?" Evelina asked after a moment of silence. "Aren't you going to help me? Oh, yeah, I forgot you were a super selfish elf. So, Elmira, care to enlighten me, why do you hate me so much?"

Her smile widened as Elmira twitched nervously, her aquamarine eyes darting around quickly at the crowd. She must've known Evelina was wanting to shame her in front of more than fifty prodigies—and in order to disallow her from doing anything silly, she warned Elmira, "Oh, and you better tell the truth—I can feel your nervous emotions from all the way here."

It wasn't a lie, and Elmira knew it. Hywel had turned back and walked towards the gathering crowd, and in the corner of her eye, Evelina could see Gandalf, Myst, and Terrentia whispering too.

Elmira swallowed. Then swallowed again. And again. "Well. . ."

Evelina raised her eyebrow mockingly. "I'm waiting," she taunted Elmira.

Elmira suddenly glared at her, and blurted out, "Because you're the one Brennus always has his attention locked on! You hate him, but he _likes_ you!"

Evelina blanched in surprise inwardly, and managed to keep her cool as she cocked her head and said, "So you're jealous."

It wasn't a question.

Elmira bit her lip. "Of you."

The crowd of prodigies started whispering after their exchange of tense words.

_Elmira has a thing for Brennus?_

_And Brennus fancies Evelina?_

Evelina smiled, and put a hand on Elmira's shoulder. "It's okay, Elmira. I don't harbour any hard feelings toward you."

Elmira brightened up, asking, "Really?"

Evelina nodded, plastering a fake smile on her lips. "Really. So you should be concerned about Brennus's reaction now, not me."

Elmira scoffed. "So you don't feel _anything_ about Brennus's crush on you? I know you hate Brennus Vacker with a burning passion, Evelina. In fact, everyone does."

"Of course they do," Evelina said, flipping her hair onto one shoulder, "and I'm proud of it."

Elmira spread her lips into a thin line, the closest to a smile Evelina had ever seen her. "Well, Evelina Sencen, you're different. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

"Oh, it's a good thing alright," Evelina told her.

Elmira stretched out a hand, and Evelina took it. She pulled Evelina up and shook her hand as their eyes met.

"Truce?" Elmira asked.

"Truce," agreed Evelina, and the prodigies burst into applause and cheers.

After they dispersed and headed towards their respective lessons, Evelina couldn't help but keep thinking about what Elmira had said about Brennus fancying her. Evelina pressed her lips into a hard line and kept her face straight as she stretched her hand to reach the doorknob which would open the door and reveal her Empath instructor's face at once. She couldn't think about that. Not right now. She was forgetting her motto: _Screw all Vackers._ And Brennus was indeed a jerk, especially to Ailill.

But it was hard to follow her motto when Aurelia, Alden, Biana, and Ailill were so nice to Evelina. Maybe only Fitz and his jerkface son were the problem with Vackers.

Though she couldn't be so sure about that. What was the big deal about Fitz's and Sophie's rocky relationship? What was so big that they would want to hide it from her? She was sure Brennus didn't know too—but he thought he knew—Fitz must have spun a fake story to satisfy him and stop him from asking prying questions. So Brennus was down—and Ailill didn't know anything. She knew Biana wouldn't open her mouth, and that left Alden and Aurelia. She didn't know Alden or Aurelia very well too, but maybe they could tell her something.

So there were two Vackers Evelina needed to ask. What about Sophie's side of people? Evelina's father _may_ tell her something, but she knew that was close to impossible—her father had a knack for lying and withholding stuff—and Evelina knew he would do that, for Sophie.

Dex may want to tell Evelina something—Sophie and him were really good friends, anyway, and Evelina didn't feel that he would hide things from her—and if he did, it was worth a try anyway. Grady and Edaline—Sophie's adoptive parents—definitely knew something, and Evelina was pretty close to them too. So they might open their mouths—even to give away the slightest bit of information.

But Evelina knew it was close to impossible too, with Grady and Edaline. Their only biological daughter, Jolie, had died in a fire years and years ago—and they usually hid things that were related to Jolie—which made them experts on hiding stuff. They were very elusive when it came to Jolie—and they probably would be the same on the ruined relationship of their adoptive daughter and her once-boyfriend.

So, Aurelia, Alden, Dex, Grady, and Edaline were Evelina's only hope of digging out the real truth. And when she did, all the missing pieces would finally fall together. Why Sophie was so agitated about Fitz, so heartbroken. Why Fitz was so uncomfortable about Sophie. Why people would hide things from Evelina and Brennus. Why Sophie was so insistent about not letting Evelina feel guilty—and she claimed it was not only because of Alden's mind breaking; it was for another darker reason.

To Evelina, nothing was darker than a broken mind, but it seemed otherwise for Sophie. And Evelina couldn't help but have a nagging feeling that guilt had something to do with Sophie and Fitz's elusive past.

Clearly someone would have known all the details. Someone that saw something unfolding after a long time when the melodramatic episode happened. Someone that saw two people talking about it—but then got their memories erased by a Washer.

Evelina gasped as memories flooded back into her mind, fresh and raw, new and crackly. She clutched her head as her knees buckled. She released her tight hold on her head and grasped the edge of the table as energy drained from her legs, making her stumble and fall on the ground, hitting her head hard on the ground.

Her head was a mess of vivid animated images swirling and spinning in her mind as a black wave crashed over her head and knocked her out completely.

The last thing she heard was someone calling out her name and she felt something circling around her waist and carrying her towards. . .somewhere. . .

Black dots covered her vision as she cried out in anguish.

* * *

"Shhh, it's okay," a soft voice whispered gently to her as she thrashed around, screaming. "Nod your head if you can hear me, Evelina."

Evelina. . .who was Evelina?

She opened her eyes blearily, focusing on a man with crazy hair and weird iridescent glasses which shimmered in the light as he snapped his fingers and created an orb of light which illuminated his face, which had greyish blue eyes set into it, a blunt nose and a smiling, friendly mouth.

"Evelina?" he asked, peering at her. "Can you see me?"

She squinted at the man. "Are...Are you Elwin?"

Elwin smiled and nodded. "Yes, Evelina."

She frowned. "Elwin, why do you keep calling me Evelina?"

Now it was Elwin's turn to frown. "What?"

She repeated her question, feeling confused as sharp emotions of panic pricked at her. Why was she feeling panicked? Why? Why did he call her Evelina? Speaking of names, she couldn't think of what her name was.

She watched Elwin again as he paced around the room. More prickles of panic came on. Then he stopped, and turned to face her. "Your name is Evelina. You don't remember your name? Evelina? Evelina Sencen?"

She shook her head. "I don't know what my name is. Is it Evelina?"

Elwin looked away, and she could feel the familiar stabs of panic pricking at her heart. What was this weird feeling? She knew she wasn't panicked. So why would there be...?

After a moment, Elwin picked up a glass vial filled with yellow liquid. "Drink this, and maybe you'll think better."

She accepted the vial, and lifted it to her lips, feeling the sloshy liquid flow down her gullet into her gut, making her feel dizzy.

"Elwin? I don't. . ." She didn't finish her sentence as a wave of nausea hit her and a memory started to play in her mind, blacking out the brightness of the room, until it was only her and the memory.

_She was seven that time, cuddling with her mother's soft bright blue elephant, Ella, when Ella slipped out of her grasp and started rolling towards the sloping ramp that led to her parent's bedroom._

_"_ _Oh no! Mummy would be so angry if she found out," she whispered, and raced after Ella, her small footsteps hardly catching up with the speed of the rolling elephant. Her blonde hair bounced up and down as she watched the plush toy hit the mahogany door softly._

_She ran over to Ella, and was about to scoop her arms around her when her sharp ears caught a few whispering sounds. Scared of nightmares, her first instinct was to run, but curiosity got the better of her, and she pressed her ear to the smooth wood, opening the door a crack to see her father._

_"_ _Foster, are you still thinking about our boy Fitz?" her father was saying to someone she had yet to know. "He's married, and has a kid already—and so do you. Don't you think it's time to move on? Evelina wouldn't be happy if she knew you were actually thinking about how different your future might be if you had married him. Anyway, number one on your matchmaking list doesn't mean anything." There was a strain to his voice._

_Her mother's voice floated out of the room, and she pressed her ear harder against the door, opening the door wider, ignoring Ella as she stayed on the ground. Fitz. . .Fitz was a former Councillor, wasn't he? Why were her parents talking about him marrying Mummy? What would happen to her?_

_"_ _I'm sorry, Keefe," her mother mumbled. "I know this shouldn't bother me anymore. I'm being silly and unfaithful to you, and Evelina. Fitz broke my heart—I'm not going to let it get the best of me. You and Evelina deserve it a hundred times more than him." She stared at the metallic pin in her hand, then closed her palm and threw it into the fireplace. "I'm done with him forever."_

_Suddenly, the door swung open, and she yelped as her mother stared at her in disbelief. "Evelina? What are you doing here? Don't you know it's rude to listen in to our conversation?"_

_"_ _It's not when you are hiding something from me," she said bashfully. Her mother stared down at her sadly._

_"_ _I'm sorry, Lina," she sobbed into her hair as her daughter stood still, emotionless as her mother cried her heart out. Her mother's necklace fell out of her shirt, and as it hung from her neck, she examined with her ice-blue eyes the Panakes blossom painted on one of the beads. It had been a present from her father to her mother long time ago when they were fourteen._

_Was the metallic pin a present too?_

_But she didn't say anything as she handed Ella over to her mother. Her mother thanked her and she disappeared into the room again, closing the door on her softly._

_The questions haunted her as she clambered into bed, and she found it hard to fall asleep. After an hour, she finally did, but the nightmares of Fitz and her mother haunted her—until halfway, the nightmare cut off cleanly as it faded into an abyss._

_The next morning, she didn't remember anything about last night's events at all._

"Stop it, stop it," Evelina cried as she hit something soft.

"Evelina?" a voice interrupted her and pulled her out of the daze she had been in. She opened her eyes and met face-to-face with a boy with teal eyes and dark brown hair.

"Ahhh!!!" she yelled, and spit into the boy's face, making him yell too and shrink back, wincing as he wiped off the saliva on his left cheek.

"Hey, what was that for?" he asked, a little miffed.

Beside him, a small boy about twelve said, "That was for leaning so close until it seemed like you wanted to kiss her."

"Wait, what?" Evelina said, touching her lips self-consciously. They were dry, thank goodness. "Who the hell are you two weird people, anyway?"

The two boys exchanged a confused look, then turned back to look at Evelina.

"You don't know?" The bigger boy asked. "I'm Brennus."

"And I'm Ailill," said the smaller boy. "Oh yeah, by the way, Evelina, he might have not kissed you on the lips, but he did it on the cheek—accidentally—"

"Wait, WHAT again?" Evelina pressed her cheeks. "Ewwww. . .Screw you, Brennus or should I call you jerkface?"

"I really do recommend you calling him that," Ailill agreed.

"And it wasn't my fault, it was yours!" Brennus protested. "You were jerking and thrashing around until your cheek hit my lips!"

Ailill sighed. "And he's forgetting how close he was—so, Evelina, don't blame yourself, it was his fault."

Evelina glared at Brennus. "That's it—I'm calling you jerkface forever and always."

Brennus scowled. "I really hate you two."

Elwin entered the room again, and he smiled at Evelina. "Oh, my girl's up now! How do you feel, Evelina?"

"Weird," Evelina replied, rubbing her cheek and glaring at Brennus.

Brennus blushed.

"Woah—what happened, I wonder?" Elwin peered at both Evelina and Brennus, then looked at Ailill. "Well, Ailill, what happened?"

"It's too icky to explain to you, Elwin," Ailill said.

"No, but seriously. I feel weird. Um. Not just because of the ki—um, I mean _jerkface_. There was a really weird memory playing over and over again in my mind." She rubbed her head. "What did you give me anyway?"

"A liquefied version of fathomlethes," Elwin told Evelina.

"Aaanndd, I'm confused," Evelina announced.

Elwin rolled his eyes. "Fathomlethes are tiny pearls found in rare river oysters. They give you messy dreams, but they can also help you to access your long-term memories. I gave you the whole thing to drink—so it hit you immediately. I was hoping you'll remember more about yourself that way, and it seemed that it worked like a charm." He turned to Evelina. "So, what did you see?"

"Like I'm going to tell you. I'm just going to tell you that now I know that my name is Evelina, my parents and closest friends call me Lina, Sophie and Keefe are the names of my parents, and Fitz Vacker has something to do with all this stuff. They talked about something, like, um, what would have happened if Sophie married Fitz and all this stuff? I don't know what was going on." She shook her head. "Maybe I'll recover more memories and dreams later. Oh yeah, and I remember now. This memory was erased from my mind, but now it's here again! I recall someone washing this memory while I was sleeping."

Elwin had turned pale, and Evelina could feel the worry and panic vibes pricking at her again. What was going on?

"Okay," Elwin said after a few moments of silence. "I think it's time for us to hail Sophie and Keefe here."

"Wait," Evelina said. "I know who are my friends: Gandalf, Hywel, Myst, and Terrentia. So why aren't they here? Why have these two weirdos replaced them?"

"Excuse me?" Both Ailill and Brennus said in unison, then glared at each other.

"Oops, sorry, I mean only jerkface, not Ailill. Sorry," Evelina apologized. Brennus shot a death glare at Ailill, who pretended not to notice.

"The four of them are waiting outside," Elwin told her. "Besides, these two impatient elves won a debate with them and got in first. You can see them after you're finished with the two of them and your parents."

"Okay then," Evelina said cheerfully. "But I don't remember these two elves. But then"—she frowned—"before that I also couldn't recall what my name was. Does that mean my name was as unimportant as them and my parents? That's kind of sad."

"It is," Elwin agreed. "As unimportant as them, excluding your parents, of course. Your name is just a representation or reference of who you are. Of course it means something, but. . .You can bet there are people with the name Evelina too. So names don't define who you are. You yourself define who you are."

"Like family?" Evelina asked quietly.

Elwin nodded. "Yes, your family doesn't define who you are too."

Evelina nodded too, memories of the grudge she held against the Vackers coming back into her mind. She eyed Brennus. That guy was a Vacker, and he was a jerk—making him one of Evelina's greatest enemies—but maybe she could understand him more and try to forgive him for being such a stupid person to his brother-not-brother. Jealousy was demeaning—and deprived someone of their good qualities.

If Brennus wasn't jealous towards Ailill, maybe he wouldn't be such a jerk like he was today.

So if Brennus wasn't such a jerk, maybe Evelina would stop judging him because he was Fitz's son.

Maybe.


	5. chapter the fifth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which sophie relents a little to evelina.

Evelina wasn't sure if she wanted to face her parents.

After the memory that had flashed into her mind when she was unconscious, a flood of images had been triggered, and now she realised that there was more to Sophie and Fitz's past than she had initially thought.

What more secrets were her parents hiding? How dare they wash her memories just like that?

Was Fitz like that to his son too? Did he hide things from him too? And so, what would that mean?

Evelina and Fitz's son had been living a lie all this time?

She didn't know who Fitz's son was—or she couldn't remember—probably the latter. Her head felt like it had been mashed to a bloody pulp, and her mind felt deprived of memories that she should have known.

Her mind flashed back to the two boys who had randomly appeared when she awoke. What were their names again? Oh, yeah, right—Ailill. And Brennus, also known as The Greatest Jerkface of All Time. She couldn't believe his nerve.

Evelina snapped out of her reverie when pounding footsteps drew her out to reality. Two blonde-headed elves ran to her side. Her parents. Sophie and Keefe.

"Evelina!" Sophie cried. She sat down on Evelina's bed. "Are you alright? I've been so worried about you. Elwin said you lost part of your memory and didn't even remember what your name was . . . Do you remember now?"

"I don't," Evelina said. "But I've been told so."

Sophie frowned. She seemed like she wanted to say some more, but Keefe interrupted her and said, "I'm just glad you're feeling okay, Lina."

"Lina," Evelina mused. "Is that a nickname for me? Eve _lina_?"

"Yup," Keefe grinned so wide that his ends of his mouth almost reached his ears. "Awesome, right?"

"I guess so." She wasn't too sure what they were trying to talk about. But she didn't care—she had one topic she wanted to focus on.

"Mum," said Evelina, turning to Sophie.

She needed to learn more, and this was the perfect opportunity to talk casually about it.

Evelina thought she saw Sophie gulp slightly as she answered, "Yeah?" Her wide brown eyes seemed more surreal up close. That said, had she ever been so close to her mum before? The thought hurt her. Deep.

"Why did you wash my memories?"

Sophie exchanged a nervous look with Keefe that seemed to say, _she knows. What do we do now?_

Keefe shrugged and gave her a nonchalant look that seemed to say, _who cares? Just tell her the damn truth!_

Sophie sighed and pursed her lips. "Fine. We washed your memories because you've observed something that you shouldn't have observed. I'd love to tell you more, but—"

"Actually, you don't have to," interrupted Evelina, feeling the anger rise up in her stomach. "I remember. Every. Single. Thing. Is it really so awesome to hide your romantic past from your own daughter? You have to get over jerkface's father. Don't you see you're not being true to Dad and me by doing this?"

"Evelina," Keefe started but Evelina held out a hand.

"Dad, you know we deserve to hear something true come out of Mum's mouth eventually," she said, staring at a terrified and taken aback Sophie. "Why does she need to hide her and Fitz Vacker's past together? The past is the past—she should be over it."

"Evelina, enough." There was a tone of finality in Sophie's voice, but she still looked shaky as she drew back from Evelina, her fingers trembling as she grasped Keefe's hand, leaning into it like it was the only thing in the universe she could depend on.

"The past Fitz and I share is none of your business," she whispered. "I know I'm in the wrong too, but . . ."

Evelina felt a pang of pity and guilt, and she blurted out, "Fine, but can you at least tell me _something?_ You're worrying me, Mum. Are you over Fitz or not?"

Sophie and Keefe shared a moment of staring at each other. Evelina knew they were having a short but tense telepathic conversation, and the thought that she wasn't allowed to hear what they were talking irked her so much that she had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She knew she was being too hard on her parents, but it wasn't like she was the only one who tortured.

Nobody would tell her the truth. Nobody.

"Alright then, since you insist your way," said Sophie, closing her eyes and drawing in a sharp intake of breath. "Would you like to hear how Fitz and I got together?"

* * *

"I can still remember every single detail," said her mother, her eyes still shut.

Father and daughter exchanged a secret glance. Yep, Sophie clearly still wasn't moving on off Fitz.

But the both of them didn't say anything as they didn't want to catch Sophie off the topic when she hardly touched on it at all.

"I'd always had a crush on Fitz the second I saw him—"

Keefe muttered something about 'Sophitz' under his breath, and Evelina felt like puking—though not because of the sloshy sourness in her gut.

Once upon a time, Sophie had been so madly in love with Evelina's sworn enemy.

And all he did was break her heart.

And she still refused to move on.

Sophie opened one eye and regarded the both of them seriously, though there was a tinge of both amusement and sadness in the lone eye. "Please don't interrupt."

"Will do, Foster." Keefe made a cheesy salute. An idea of a smile stretched Evelina's mother's lips slightly as she continued.

"Year after year, I thought he didn't return my feelings. And year after year, I lost more and more hope."

Evelina's hand went to her forehead. It was like listening to a sappy soap opera with a two hour loop of dull melodies.

"But finally, on the 27th of June 2017, when Biana, being the awesome-not one, forced me to register for my matchmaking scroll along with Keefe, Fitz, Dex, and her. Once we got our matchmaking scrolls, we opened them immediately, excited to see who our number ones were. And—"

"Please say that Keefe was your number one, and not Fitz?" Evelina begged, hating the way Fitz's name just rolled off her tongue with surprising ease.

_She even remembered the exact date._

Keefe sighed and groaned at the same time. "I wish."

" _Damn_ it."

Sophie opened her left eye again and stared at Evelina. "No swearing, please."

"I was just expressing my displeasure, Mum."

"Um. Do it in a more appropriate way."

"Okay, fine. How about this: this piece of stupid information sucks like hell."

While Keefe grinned his approval and complimented Evelina, Sophie looked utterly disgusted as she finally opened both of her eyes and glared at her daughter. However, there was a slight smile hidden in the corners of her lips as she scolded Evelina, "That's worse. And Keefe, don't teach Evelina the wrong things."

"She cares about you, Foster. How is that the wrong thing?"

Sophie sighed in exasperation. "You two are _impossible."_

"Thanks for the compliment." Evelina smirked, feeling a little smug as she said, "I love to hear that piece of news. Now can we move on?"

The tension eased a little, Sophie's face looked lighter and she didn't close her eyes this time as she continued, "Fitz was Number 1 on my scroll, and I think Biana's face darkened so much she looked like a ghoul—"

"What's that?" Evelina interrupted.

Sophie sighed. "Why do I get interrupted so many times? Do you want to hear the story or not?" But after a moment, she said, "A ghoul is an evil spirit or phantom, especially one supposed to rob graves and feed on dead bodies."

"What does a ghoul look like?"

"I'm glad you're being so interested. You can search the images on Google on my IPod later."

"I hate that infernal device." Evelina's mother had an IPod—a weird gadget that humans invented—that she bought when she still had been living in the Forbidden Cities, and she used to keep it to herself, but now it was the intriguing object that Evelina always tried to destroy. Sophie said that it used to be powerless, but her uncle Dex fixed it for her when they were twelve.

"Anyway, that's not the point." Keefe crossed his arms, trying to look serious but failing terribly. "Even though I hate to hear how Fitzie-boy beat me in the ranks of Foster's good matches, we still must not break the promise we made to Lina. Proceed with the story, Foster!"'

"Fitz was number one, Dex was number six, and Keefe was number eleven."

"Whaaaat?! Did I hear that clearly? _Uncle_ Dex was a good match for Mum?" Evelina folded her arms, her mind spinning and refusing to accept the fact. Dex and Sophie were practically cousins, even though they weren't related by blood. How did he end up with a higher number than her father on the scroll?

"Yep," Keefe said, his face darkening. "Dude—I'm supposed to be the most awesome guy for Foster, and there the matchmakers go, messing it up!"

Sophie grinned widely. "He's lucky that I chose him."

Keefe literally glowed at the words, his face flushed with pink. But Evelina frowned, choosing to see Sophie's words in a different perspective. Did Sophie mean she thought that Keefe was the least suitable for her?

But she was stopped from thinking too much about it as Sophie carried on telling her story. "And when Fitz and I realised we were the most compatible with each other, he . . . finally showed out clearly and fully that he did like me. I'd always have little, rare hints in the past years, but never a full confession. And from that day onward, we started . . . hanging out."

"You mean dating," corrected Evelina. She knew Sophie wanted to be subtler, but if she wanted to tell a story she needed to use the correct terms, surely?

Sophie twisted her fingers together. "Um. Yeah, I guess so. Yes, dating."

The word hung out among the three of them in the air, as if it was waiting impatiently for someone to catch it.

"And we started getting closer every day, and before I knew it our first kiss came."

"You said 'our'. So was your first kiss with Fitz or not?"

Sophie shook her head. "No . . . mine was with this guy." She cocked her head toward Keefe, who smiled impishly. "And even though not as many sparks flew when me and Fitz—ahem—kissed, I was led to be convinced that it was only because that had been my first kiss, and this one was with someone I'd had a crush on for a very long time."

"Extremely," said Keefe, scowling so hardly his face looked a little distorted.

"And what were the others' reactions? Well, Grady was suspicious and disapproving of Fitz—well, he was also like that to Keefe. I think he's like that to everyone except for Dex, who he, until this day, still supports Dex and me together. Edaline pretty much just kept smiling goofily—she always does that no matter which guy was with me. Biana was absolutely mortified at the idea of her brother being tied to myself at first, but later she warmed up, brightening at the idea that she could become my sister. And obviously Keefe and Dex were opposed to the idea—they'd always been since forever."

"Never regretted that decision," Keefe sighed wistfully but happily at the same time. "Dex and I, what good times. We do still hang out and thank our lucky stars Fitz didn't end up with her."

"Why in the world does Mum have so many boys chasing her?" questioned Evelina, more to herself than to her parents. A stray memory floated into her head.

Brennus a.k.a. The Ultimate Jerkface liked her.

As in, liked, _liked_ her.

Ew, ew, ew.

She shoved the disgusting and icky thought out of her mind and forced herself to focus on the story, which was going really slow at the moment. "We need to escalate things at a higher pace. I need to know. What. Happened."

"What, what do you mean, what happened?" Sophie acted confused, but Evelina saw right through her act, and she didn't even have to be an Empath to know it.

Her mother didn't want to talk about it.

"You know, what happened? What happened that caused you two to fall out?" Evelina prodded Sophie, who was picking at her eyelashes—a nervous habit that her mother always did when she was nervous.

"I didn't promise to tell you that. I promised to tell you how we got together."

Evelina exhaled an exasperated sigh, and said loudly, "Fine. But this isn't enough. What do I get from knowing this? Nothing. At least tell me something more. Like what happened after your fight or whatever it had been."

"We fell out."

"Elaborate, please."

Sophie pressed her lips together so tight some parts of it turned white. "We started avoiding each other, and I don't know what Fitz really thought inside his mind, but I would spend sleepless nights outside, lying down on the grasses in Havenfield and staring up at the stars, crying, wondering if he was thinking of me as I had been. And Biana soon became the communicator between Fitz and me. And one day, this happened . . ." She closed her eyes, and suddenly Evelina could see her mother's memory imprinted inside of her brain, starting to play the scenes over and over again.

_Her Imparter rang, startling her. She walked over and lifted up the small crystal device into her hands, pressing the receive button._

_A face she never thought she'd see again appeared on the screen, both painful and comforting to look at._

_But she steeled and hardened her face and emotions and sent a death glare toward the screen._

_Fitz winced._

_"_ _What do you want?" she said harshly. It felt so wrong to be so hard on him, or anybody. Her personality wasn't like that at all, but after they fell out and broke up, something had hardened inside of her. Her friends looked at her like she had changed into someone they didn't know._

_"_ _I just want to say . . ." He trailed off, like he was trying to remember a speech he spent ages memorizing and preparing. "I just want to say, I'm really, really sorry for that night, Sophie. I missed you. Maybe this is wishful thinking, but if we loved again, I swear I'd love you right this time. So . . . can you forgive me for everything that I've done?"_

_Her fingers stopped short centimetres from the hang up button, her mind processing what he'd just said._

_He wanted to be with her again._

_They could start over again._

_But after a moment of intense thoughts, she knew it could never happen. The past relationship between them had already been dried up, tossed away in the wilderness, and gone forever. The trust between them had been breached too much already, and there was also no way they could become Cognates ever again._

_"_ _No," she said._

_Fitz's brow puckered up, and Sophie had to look away when she thought it was cute. "Excuse me?"_

_Fitz never said 'excuse me' to her before, and that was concrete evidence that they would never be the lovers Sophie and Fitz again._

_"_ _No. I'm sorry, Fitz. But I can't do this. Never." And with that, she killed the call. He didn't even bother to meet her face-to-face—why would she forgive him that easily then?_

_But she couldn't help sinking onto her canopy bed and cry her heart out. No matter how much she put a hard, strong act in front of everyone, no matter how much she tried to move on from the past, it didn't work._

_Grady and Edaline came up, but it was no use._

_Edaline murmured as she patted her back comfortingly, "When your past calls, don't answer. It has nothing new to say."_

_She was right. But Sophie couldn't bring herself to do that._

Evelina gasped as she clutched her head. The new intake of memories triggered a slight headache, but thankfully it only lasted for two seconds as she stared at Sophie, whose face had turned deathly pale.

"Mum?"

Keefe pulled Sophie to his chest as she struggled to take several deep breaths.

"It's fine," she rasped, but Evelina could see shiny tears in her brown eyes.

And that was when Evelina knew that enough was enough. She shouldn't push Sophie anymore.

"I think I'm satisfied. Let's . . . let's go home."

Keefe shot Evelina a grateful smile. "Yup—Elwin has already given you the all-clear. But I remembered seeing a bunch of your awesome friends, who are probably still waiting outside. Let's go and see them and reassure them that you're all set again for making mischief."

* * *

They walked out of the Healing Center and spotted Myst, Gandalf, Hywel, and Terrentia still standing outside. And by the looks on their faces, Evelina knew they had heard everything.

She cursed under her breath and forced a smile at the four as she approached.

"Lina!" Terrentia was the first one to pull Evelina into a tight embrace, and soon Myst, Gandalf, and Hywel joined in too.

"Elwin told us you've lost your memory," Gandalf said worriedly. "But do you remember us?"

Evelina grinned beneath the fabric of Terrentia's Foxfire uniform. "Yep—I remember all of you."

"Thank goodness," breathed Myst, her voice holding a tinge of relief. Then her eyes flickered behind Evelina, where Sophie and Keefe stood, smiling. She smiled a dazzling smile back as she said, "You're going home, I assume?"

"Yup! I'll hail you all later, okay?"

"Alright," Hywel said, waving at Evelina, Keefe, and Sophie. "Don't forget, secret meeting tomorrow after school! Terrentia's place!"

Evelina smiled and waved back at her friends, then walked over to her parents, who were smiling.

"You have some great friends," said Keefe.

Evelina felt a grin stretch her mouth. Yes, she did.

Evelina was lying on her bed, thinking about Fitz and Sophie when her Imparter rang in her Foxfire satchel.

"Coming!" she whispered, even though she knew the person hailing her couldn't hear her, and hopped off the mattress and onto the floor. She skidded across the marble floor and did a split, landing on the ground and grabbing her satchel. The ringing stopped when Evelina took out her Imparter, stood up, and pressed a silver button to receive the call.

"Hi, Myst—" she stopped short when she saw the face on the screen.

Brennus?

She scowled at him. "Hi, Jerkface. What do you want?"

Brennus smiled—and Evelina cursed herself mentally for finding it rather cute, scrunching up her nose in disgust.

"Do you want to come over to my house this weekend?"

_CREEP!_ Evelina thought, but all she said to Brennus was, "No."

"Ailill wants to see you."

"Oh." Pondering, Evelina asked thoughtfully, "So I presume you and your father will be out of the way? You hate your brother, remember?"

The thought sickened her, and it grew worse when Brennus said, "He's not my brother, and Father won't be there. But he forced me to stay at home."

"Deal with it. Anyway, I like him better than you. And the answer shall be yes, only because of Ailill."

But as she hung up on Brennus, Evelina wondered if Ailill was the only reason she wanted to go to the Vackers' again.

* * *

The next day of school was a boring one. Even though Evelina and Elmira had a truce, Elmira ignored Evelina as usual, and Evelina was naturally inclined to do the same. But that didn't stop her from thinking about what Elmira had said to her, and it seemed pretty much the same for the rest of the Level Five prodigies. The main topic of gossip was pretty much about the situation among Elmira, Evelina, and Brennus, and Evelina swore almost everyone that was wearing a green Foxfire uniform had come up to her and asked her what she felt about Brennus liking her.

And what did she really feel? Evelina had said, "Just go away" to anyone and everyone that had the nerve to come up and ask her something that was even the slightest bit related to yesterday's dramatic events. Her friends also acted as her bodyguards, lashing out at anyone who came up. But what did she feel, inside her heart? Even Evelina wasn't sure of her own feelings anymore.

That was what sucked for an Empath—she could sense everyone else's feelings, but she couldn't feel her own feelings unless she was really experiencing them.

So she just decided to push the thoughts about that away from her head and tried to focus on her history Mentor, who was babbling away in a monotonous voice about her own mother, who had supposedly 'made history', and 'since she was her very own daughter, she should very well pay attention to what Sophie Foster did'. It wasn't that Evelina didn't admire her mother for being a crucial part of vanquishing the Neverseen, a rebellion organization that was bent on destroying the Council. It was just that because she was the famous Sophie Foster's daughter, everyone looked at her like they expected her to be a freak with brown eyes with exceptional abilities that could save the world. It was super stressful, and even her Mentors lamented at her.

After the day at school ended, Evelina joined her friends to the Leapmaster to go to Terrentia's place for their weekly meeting. It was just a thing they planned on doing, and since today was Wednesday, it was time to meet up privately without anyone around. Only Terrentia's mother, Biana, would be around, and she hardly spied on them, except for the time she suddenly appeared in the center of the circle and scared the whole lot of them. And sometimes Terrentia's brother would come home, but unlike Biana, he could never discover where they held their secret meetings in the house.

And Evelina suddenly found herself dreading the secret meeting her and her friends had every Wednesday. They'd been lenient on her on Tuesday and the whole day at school, but she knew when they had their time alone together, they were definitely going to ask what was going on yesterday.

So she took a deep breath to steel her nerves, and stepped onto the Leapmaster platform with her friends. She closed her eyes when Terrentia shouted, "Crescent Breeze!" and then she let the light pull her away, away to the realm of prying questions.

The five of them landed on the grassy pastures of where Terrentia and her family lived. Crescent Breeze was a beautiful towering Victorian-style mansion with a glass balcony that overlooked the endless grasslands. To Evelina, it was painted with too much hot pink, but that was Biana all right.

Terrentia pressed the doorbell that was half-hidden behind a clump of ivy which leaves were shaped like swirling stars, and when the metallic wire grey gates swung open, she led her friends inside and through a tall arch that stretched over their heads high. When they entered the door, the foyer was empty as usual. Biana never came to greet them, and that was probably why she hadn't been exactly sure who Evelina was when the two of them had met each other at Everglen.

The five of them exchanged a secret glance, then they walked to the far end of the foyer, where Terrentia tapped her fingers on a block of crystal that had been wedged into the wall, making the whole wall suddenly translucent. It was part of elvin technology, where the wall phased out like how Phasers did so they could 'disappear' into the wall to the other side of it.

When Myst, who was the last one to walk to the other side of the wall, crossed to where her friends were already standing, the phased-out wall turned solid again, no longer shimmering with a translucent light. Evelina let out a breath and sat down on one of the chairs in the small, cramped room.

"So what were your parents discussing with you?" Hywel immediately asked, fixing Evelina with a questioning stare.

Evelina sighed deeply, drawing out the syllable. "I don't want to talk about it."

"But—" Gandalf started to say, but Myst cut him off.

"If Lina doesn't want to talk about it, then leave her alone." She sighed, running her fingers through her jet-black hair. Her pale silvery blue eyes flickered to Evelina as she silently asked if she was alright.

Evelina nodded, and wrenched her gaze away from her friends' stares, focusing on the glimmering chandelier that hung directly above them, the small balefire flames flickering inside the crystal holders. She'd often have nightmares that the chandelier would crash down onto them, and the thought unnerved her even more.

"Fine, then." Hywel ran his fingers through his strawberry blonde hair, looking slightly put off. "But you sure you're okay?"

Evelina nodded so hard her brain rattled.

Myst suddenly grinned, her white teeth gleaming in the gloom. "I'm pleased to say that we have some interesting things to discuss, guys. Apparently, the gossip is really strong today. Elmira, Lina, and Brennus? Awesome."

Evelina groaned. "We are so _not_ talking about this."

"Yes, we are," Gandalf said simply. "It was pretty obvious, all these stuff, but for Elmira to blurt the truth out, it's simply amazing—"

A figure materialized out of nowhere, and the five friends screamed as Biana grinned at them.

"Mum, this is the second time!" shrieked Terrentia.

"Yep, it's the second time." Biana sat down in the center of the five elves, looking remarkably calm as Evelina's Vacker radar came on, and she scooted away a few inches, making a scraping sound as her chair dragged backwards.

Biana shot Evelina with a strange look. "Hey, Evelina, are you that scared? Sorry if I frightened you. Wait, I saw you on Monday, didn't I? You know, at Everglen? You were with Brennus, right?"

"Yeah," said Evelina, resisting the strong urge to squirm in her seat. She had nothing against Biana alone, but she was Fitz's younger sister . . .

"Oh yeah, what happened that night?" Terrentia asked Evelina. "I wanted to know but I forgot to ask you."

"Me too," added Myst.

"Me three," said Gandalf.

"Me four." Hywel eyed Biana suspiciously.

Biana and Evelina exchanged a glance, and Evelina shook her head.

Biana said, "Nothing really much happened, and I'd have wished for my nephew Bren and Evelina to be friends, but apparently not." She chuckled, and Evelina couldn't help thinking how true the words were.

"So what were you talking about?" asked Biana, craning her neck forward. "What about Bren, Evelina, and Marella and Jensi's daughter?"

It took two seconds to realise she was talking about Elmira. "Um," said Evelina. "Uh . . ." She didn't really have the urge to tell Brennus's aunt that Brennus actually had a thing for her, and that Elmira liked her nephew.

Biana smiled, and rested an elbow on Terrentia's shoulder, who tried not to squirm. "Don't worry, I'm the expert on boy stuff."

How had she known it was boy stuff? Wait, she'd just said that she was the expert on boy stuff.

Gandalf and Hywel looked at each other nervously.

"Um, that's it, we're out of here," Hywel giggled, and the both of them exited the other side of the wall, leaving Evelina, Terrentia, and Myst with Biana.

"Now." Biana tapped Terrentia's shoulder three times and stared at the three of them. "Spill."


	6. chapter the sixth

_Hey, my fists are tight and I'm afraid_

_Because I cannot explain_

_Your heart is like a hurricane_

_But can't you see I'm so in pain?_

Sophie drew in a sharp breath to calm herself down as she stared at the swirling whirlpool that would lead her down to Atlantis, the underwater Lost City. She'd always been scared of jumping into the whirlpool, ever since the first time she'd came to the Lost Cities. And Fitz had been there too.

She closed her eyes as the first time she'd been there replayed in her mind. But when she thought of Fitz, she thought of Evelina. Evelina had always been angry at Fitz, and now her for not moving on off Fitz. Sophie wasn't sure how to feel about that. She knew why Evelina was angry at her, but she couldn't help feeling that Evelina didn't understand her at all.

_Guess I'm not because I don't talk_

_And then you write me off again_

_And I don't think you understand at all_

_I don't want to use my mouth_

_Don't know how to spell it out_

_Every time I try, it sucks_

_I just wish you could open me up_

Sophie opened her eyes and stared down at the whirlpool again, suddenly imagining that the whirlpool was Evelina's emotions, feelings, and opinions all squeezed into one, directed at her. A tear trickled down Sophie's cheek and landed in the water, merging with the rest as she jumped down into the sea.

_And see all the confusion, the love, the hurt, the wrong words I'm using_

_Because tonight, it feels like you don't know my heart_

_Why, you say I never really see_

_That it's only ever about me?_

_Like I don't listen when your tears fall out_

_And I cannot catch them_

_I do not have the perfect expression_

_And I don't think you understand at all_

The raging whirlpool spun Sophie around in circles and circles, the same way she felt when Evelina had confronted, demanded, and faulted her. Was it Sophie's fault? Perhaps, but Evelina was young. She had no idea how bitter everything could taste when the whole world came crashing down on her.

_I don't want to use my mouth_

_Don't know how to spell it out_

_Every time I try, it sucks_

_I just wish you could open me up_

_And see all the confusion, the love, the hurt, the wrong words I'm using_

_Because tonight, it feels like you don't know my heart_

Evelina didn't understand at all.

And Sophie wanted to make it a point that she did. But first, she had to visit someone very special in Atlantis.

* * *

The Matchmaking Offices were grand-looking and shining with pristine colours when Sophie stepped out of the coach. The front entrance was a pale pink door with two twisted stretches of glass forming together to create two hearts bound together.

She stepped inside, and breathed in the fresh crisp air. The walls were made from smooth crystal, except for the most inside wall, which was made out of glass, so Sophie could see the outside, which had a sign that said, "The Matchmaking Offices".

There was a reception desk on her left, and behind that reception desk sat none other than Biana Vacker, one of Sophie's best friends. She had become a matchmaker, and every week she would come to Atlantis to work here, only taking breaks on Wednesdays to tend to her children.

Biana brightened up when she saw Sophie. "Sophie! What are you doing here? Come, let's sit and have a chat in the resting area."

Sophie paused. "Um, would your manager mind? And you have to attend to other visitors, right?"

Biana merely laughed. "I'll ask the gnomes to put up a sign to show that we're out for lunch break. Anyway, Sophie, I hardly see you anymore. I'm sure you have a lot to talk about."

After handing out a few orders to the gnome that was standing outside tending to the water plants, Biana pulled on Sophie's arm, leading her inside a cafeteria. They sat at the table in the far corner, and when their two glasses of lushberry juice were served, Biana leaned in and whispered, "So, I've been hearing quite a lot of talk about your daughter and my nephew."

Sophie tensed at the mention of Evelina. Then she frowned when her mind processed Biana's words. "Wait, what? Evelina? And Brennus? What about them?"

Biana scoffed, but not scornfully. "I knew that you would be confused. Because you don't really catch up on daily life with Evelina, am I right to say that?"

Sophie was leaning in to take a sip of her lushberry juice when Biana was saying that. She paused halfway, centimetres away from her straw.

_You don't really catch up on daily life with Evelina, am I right to say that?_

Now that she thought of it, Sophie and Evelina weren't close at all. Since young, Sophie had been afraid to touch or even see her own daughter, because she reminded her of Keefe. And when she thought of her and Keefe, she thought of her and Fitz. Evelina had been a constant reminder of Fitz. And Sophie didn't want to be reminded of Fitz. So it came with no surprise that Evelina was always tense and awkward around her own mother. Sophie had to admit that _was_ fault on her part. But Evelina didn't know _why_ she always kept far away from her.

"Earth to Sophie," said Biana, offering a sympathetic smile to her, pulling her out of her reverie. "I suppose that's a yes. Alright, I won't talk about that anymore. But my point is, there's been gossip going 'round Foxfire these days. And it's about Evelina and Bren. And Jensi and Marella's daughter, Elmira Babblos."

Sophie furrowed her brows together. "Jensi and Marella's daughter?" Jensi and Marella were two of her close childhood friends, and although she hadn't talked with them much these days, she knew that their daughter was quite a nuisance in Foxfire. It kind of reminded her of Stina, the Foxfire bully in their generation. Surprisingly, Stina's son was actually nothing like her.

"Yup," confirmed Biana, tilting her head to the side and resting it on her left hand, her teal eyes watching Sophie carefully. "And I know you're going to ask what happened, so I'll stop beating around the bush and tell you everything that I'd heard, right from Evelina's mouth, by the way. So you better believe it."

"Evelina told you?" said Sophie incredulously, a little hurt. Evelina had never confided in Sophie about any matters of the heart, and now, she was telling her friend instead, who she hardly knew too.

Biana must've known what she was thinking, because she said reassuringly, "Don't worry, she only told me because I forced her to. And Terrentia and Myst were there too, so it's nothing too personal. It's just some boy stuff." She waved her hand. "Do you want to know now?"

"Yes," Sophie answered immediately with conviction, nodding her head firmly. If Evelina liked some boy, it was her duty as a mother to know and help her.

But if it was the other way round, and if it had something to do with Brennus, well . . . Sophie didn't know what to make of it.

If they were a thing, wouldn't that mean Brennus and Evelina would be Fitz and Sophie all over again?

* * *

"Brennus has a thing for Evelina," Sophie repeated, her mind spinning with the new revelations.

Biana had said something about Elmira liking Brennus too, but Sophie could only focus on the other news.

Her wish wasn't answered, and what she dreaded had become true. She was hoping Evelina and Brennus hadn't anything major to do with it, but apparently (unfortunately), that wasn't how things worked.

"This is bad," she muttered, staring at the remains of her lushberry juice and wishing that things weren't this way. But Biana seemed to have a different thinking.

"Why is it bad?" she asked. "Young love is so sweet. And they'll be so cute together! Trust me, I'm a matchmaker—I know. And if you still don't believe it, we can go and create secret lists for Brennus and Evelina. And watch as everything becomes real. We would be sisters—" She stopped short when she saw Sophie's face. ". . . Oh."

Another tear slipped down Sophie's cheek, landing into the juice with a small splash. "I can't, Biana," she whispered. "Evelina and Brennus? They'll just be me and Fitz over again. I can't do this. Not again. Brennus will—"

Biana stood up from her chair and went over to Sophie's side, pulling her into a sideways embrace and patting her back as she sobbed quietly. "Sophie, I know you're broken over all this," she whispered back. "But Brennus is not Fitz. How do you know he'll break Evelina's heart? And Evelina is such a talented and pretty girl, I think she can pass, even if you didn't. And if you're worried about seeing Fitz often because of them, don't. Can't you two just become friends? You may never be the star-crossed lovers Sophie and Fitz again, but think about what you were before love happened. Before everything happened. Be the trusting friends Sophie and Fitz again. I believe in you, Sophie. And if Evelina returns Brennus's feelings . . . well, you can't hinder your daughter's happiness just because of your past. You're being a very selfish mother if you do that."

Sophie blinked as she thought more about it. Biana was indeed very right—she was being selfish if she did that. And didn't someone once say that being a mother needed self-sacrifices? Well, she guessed se needed to make one right then.

But worries still clouded her mind, and as she sorted them out, she realised she wanted to know more. And her mind flashed back to Biana's hasty offer.

"Can I see the lists for Brennus and Evelina?" she asked, standing up. "That wasn't what I was coming for, but I think that can wait. Please?"

Biana nodded. "All right. My manager might find out, but I'll have you sign so that he won't say anything. And this is for your daughter, right? No harm in doing that."

* * *

"Matches for Evelina Emma Sencen," Biana read aloud as she handed a scroll to Sophie. Sophie unfurled the scroll and her eyes immediately landed on the first name.

_1\. Brennus Fallon Vacker_

The smooth parchment slipped from Sophie's hands, landing on the soft carpeted floor soundlessly—same like Sophie, who was speechless.

"It isn't that accurate, let me warn you about that," said Biana quietly as Sophie's hands trembled uncontrollably. "These names are for fifteen year-old Evelina. Normally you can easily apply for the matchmaking scrolls at sixteen years old. But since it's only a matter of three months before Evelina turns sixteen . . . I wouldn't say it makes much of a difference. But if you want to make sure, you can bring Evelina here when she's the right age."

"So it's really true," Sophie breathed so quietly, Biana had to strain her ears to hear her. "I thought it was just a mere high school crush—but apparently it really is fate."

"I won't take it too seriously, if I were you," Biana warned her. "Evelina's still young. Let her series of events play out naturally—it won't do any good if you force her future against her."

"I guess so," said Sophie, but inside her mind was spinning. It didn't really matter if Brennus wasn't still Evelina's number one three months later. The scroll now was enough evidence that Brennus and Evelina were _super_ compatible. She wouldn't do anything to stop them . . . but Sophie knew she would be paying more attention to Brennus and Evelina now. And now that she thought of it . . . hadn't Evelina said that she was going to Everglen today? She didn't like the feeling of spying on her own daughter—the Black Swan had creeped her out when they did that—but she was definitely going to ask Evelina what they did when she got home.

And maybe . . .

* * *

Evelina folded her arms and shot a death glare at Brennus while Ailill pretended not to be watching them. "Don't. You. Dare."

Brennus shrugged, a tint of pink flushing his cheeks, and Ailill looked away. His brother wasn't exactly his number one fan, and he was only enduring him because of Evelina.

But it _was_ quite fun to tease him about his crush on Evelina. And watch him turn red. Then stutter a few words, like, "What? No! I-I don't like her, okay?"

"Sure you do." Ailill had smirked, and then brushed against his shoulder, exiting his room. And Ailill's teasing seemed to have done something to Brennus, because now, whenever he was with Evelina, he would sneak more secret glances at her. It was kind of cute, but too icky for Ailill's taste. Like, really? He was just an innocent twelve year-old that was adopted by the Vackers.

Ailill bit his lip. He had no idea where he'd come from. He'd woken up staring at his adoptive father, Fitz, and Fitz went further to explain that he was going to adopt him. So he'd assumed that Ailill's family didn't want him, and disowned him. It was rare in the Lost Cities, Fitz said, but it still happened when the parents were bad.

So here he was, given the name "Ailill Vacker" and no idea where he came from. And the Council didn't too. And when Ailill tried to remember what he had been doing all these twelve years, nothing came out. His mind was blank, like he was starting a new life at twelve years old. And nobody at school welcomed him—because he wasn't really a Vacker, was he? He didn't even look like one. Brennus and Fitz had the same dark brown hair and teal eyes, but Ailill had dirty blonde hair and a darker shade of aquamarine. Fitz was also quite uncomfortable with Ailill around, and sometimes Ailill felt like screaming at him, _if you didn't want me around, then you shouldn't have adopted me in the first place! I'm having such a hard time here!_

Evelina helped, though. She was the only one that really wanted to be friends. And whenever he was around her, he felt a sisterly-brotherly bond between the two of them.

But now, Brennus the Jerkface of All Jerkfaces was trying to steal her from him.

Evelina scowled, and stood up from the Vacker living room. By her tense and squared shoulders, it was clear she wasn't comfortable here. "I'm bored—let's play something else."

"What about base quest?" asked Brennus, and Ailill's mind clouded with confusion.

"What's base quest?" he asked loudly, mostly to provoke his brother. And Brennus was _very_ easy to provoke.

Sure enough, Brennus scowled. "Don't you know? You—"

Evelina cut in. "Yeah, what is it, Brennus?"

Ailill was pretty sure she knew what it was, and she only asked because she didn't want Brennus to scold Ailill. Ailill shot a grateful smile toward Evelina, and Evelina smiled back. Right at that moment, Ailill's heart warmed with a certain feeling that he couldn't distinguish.

Brennus's scowling face immediately turned cheerful as he faced Evelina as he said, "It's okay if you don't know. Father always used to play base quest with his friends and Aunt Biana when they were young."

_Two-faced much?_

But all Evelina said was, "Who were his friends?"

Ailill frowned. He didn't know why Evelina wanted to know about such weird things, but Evelina was weird. Anyway, he also didn't know who his adoptive father's childhood friends were. Maybe it would be good common knowledge—ha.

Brennus suddenly looked a little uncomfortable. "Well, there was Keefe Sencen, and Sophie—"

"My parents," breathed Evelina, and even though Ailill didn't know what she was thinking, he could practically see the gears in her head spinning at the speed of light.

What was this all about?

Before Ailill could open his mouth, Evelina clapped her hands together. "Okay, let's go play—"

"Wait," Brennus said. "Base quest requires two teams. And there are three of us. So we need one more person—"

The doorbell rang, making the three of them freeze and look at each other.

Evelina shrugged. "Your dad?"

Brennus frowned. "He's not supposed to be here so early. And after work, he's going out to a fancy restaurant in Atlantis with my mum."

While they were debating who it was, Ailill got up and raced out of the building, opening the gates, wondering who it was. Anyway, it probably was one of their relatives or close friends—

A woman about his father's age stepped in front of him. She had shoulder-length dirty blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes, and she bore a striking resemblance to Evelina. She was clad in a tight-fitting tunic and pants, with a hunter green cape pinned with a family crest that Ailill recognised as the same one Evelina wore.

_This woman is Evelina's mother._

_Why is she here?_

_Why does she have brown eyes?_

_Why does she feel so familiar, but eerie too?_

A slight cough broke Ailill's train of thoughts off, and he jerked out of his reverie to see Evelina's mother staring at him the same way he had been staring at her.

"Oh. Um. Um, come in, Lady Sencen—?"

Evelina's mother looked slightly nervous, pulling on the hem of her cape as she said politely, "Call me Sophie, please."

"Okay, alright . . . Sophie. Are you here for Evelina?"

"A little . . ." Sophie suddenly looked away. "I'm also here to see your father. Wait, what's your name? Are you F-Fitz's son?"

"Uh . . ." Ailill didn't know how to tell her who he was. "I'm Ailill. And . . . I'm adopted."

"Oh." Sophie wrung her hands together. "So you're Ailill Vacker?"

The way she said his name was almost affectionate, and Ailill felt a rush of warmth spread into his heart. Fitz usually paid little attention to him, and Aurelia was overprotective, so overprotective that Brennus would be jealous of him.

"Yeah. Lady—um, Sophie, you must be cold outside. Come in, please."

"Your mother is here," Ailill announced to Evelina as he walked in with Sophie. Evelina's eyes bulged at Sophie's appearance, and she seemed confused and taken aback.

"Mum . . . ? How come you're here? You never . . ."

Beside him, Ailill could hear Sophie draw in a sharp breath. "I came to see . . . Ailill and Brennus's father."

Ailill liked the way she said his name first. Then he scolded himself for thinking so selfishly.

Evelina looked even more taken aback. Then she looked down, then at Sophie again. "Okay then. So you're going to be here for quite a while?" When Sophie nodded, Evelina smiled slightly and continued, "Because we were about to play base quest, but we only have three people here—I suppose to have two teams, we need to have _four_ people."

Sophie tensed, and Ailill wondered what Evelina was playing at.

"Well, three can be possible too," she finally said. "If you guys don't mind not playing fair."

Ailill and Evelina exchanged a grin, and Brennus asked, "What?"

"Evelina, then I guess you're with me," said Ailill, trying not to smile as Brennus's jaw went slack.

Evelina nodded. "Don't want to disturb the Ultimate Jerkface, do we? I heard he's the expert in base quest. Might as well team up to try and throw him off."

"Come on!" Brennus complained. "You guys are doing this on purpose—"

"Come on!" said Ailill mockingly, mimicking Brennus's pleading tone. "You know Evelina is petrified of you ever since you _kissed_ her. Cut her some slack. Don't you want to go slow?"

Brennus's face reddened, and he glared at Ailill, an embarrassing expression spreading on his face. "What? No! You—you little—"

Ailill stuck his tongue at him playfully, and pulled Evelina to the fields outside Everglen. "Come on!" he sung. "Don't you want to chase the girl?"

When he looked back at the living room, Brennus had a mortified expression plastered on his face, while Sophie looked amused. But there was something else in her brown eyes, something Ailill would have missed if he didn't feel so drawn to her.

Wistfulness. And maybe a little bit of sadness.

* * *

"So where are we going to hide?" asked Evelina when she had explained the game to Ailill.

They were crouched in one of the shrubs, and beside them, a short and stout gnome was busy tending to the plants. He'd squealed when Evelina accidentally stepped on his foot and he was still glaring at them, even after the two of them had apologised profusely.

Ailill's eyes scanned the pastures and saw Brennus heading toward their direction, his head whipping around to try to catch sight of them. He could also track their thoughts . . .

"No time to think," Ailill hissed. "Just run out of sight, and out of mind too."

He hadn't manifested an ability yet, which was kind of unfair. But he hadn't time to protest as he imagined himself pushing Brennus out of his mind.

Ha, that would have been so awesome if he could actually do it. Brennus was a super strong Telepath—he could enter pretty much everybody's minds.

Ailill ducked behind a big, wide tree and squeezed himself against the trunk. He held his breath as Brennus walked past—funnily, he didn't seem to see him. But Ailill could tell he was stretching his mind outwards to track his thoughts! So was he dumb or was he dumb?

Suddenly, a squeal rang out. Ailill craned his neck out to see Brennus tapping Evelina. Evelina was caught. And their hiding places couldn't be too far from their base. Brennus was coming close . . . close . . . close . . .

"Caught you!" Brennus exclaimed gleefully as his head poked out sideways, making Ailill scream. He darted away from Brennus's waiting hands, and raced away from him as fast as his legs could carry him. Soon, he was channeling energy into his legs to run faster, and soon, Brennus was straying behind. Feeling the wind whistle in his ears, Ailill couldn't help but feel blissful.

But Brennus soon caught up, and he wrapped his arms around Ailill, cackling. Ailill tensed at his touch, and tried to break free. As soon as he succeeded, Ailill pretended to brush the dust off his body, blowing his hands while doing that.

"Phew—he was sure sweaty," he declared dramatically. "And dusty. And disgusting."

He hoped Brennus hadn't known why he'd let go so fast. But from the look on his face, it was clear Ailill's hopes hadn't been answered. It seemed like Brennus wanted to open his mouth and say something, but he stopped when Ailill clutched his head, feeling a sharp burst of pain ripple through his head.

"What's going on, Ai?" Evelina asked, greatly concerned as she rushed over to Ailill's side, and gasped when Ailill fell limp in her arms. "He fainted! What the . . .? Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Someone hail Elwin!"

She glared at Brennus, who was frozen to his spot. "Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go! And hurry up."

Brennus pulled himself out of his daze, and raced toward the mansion. Evelina shook her head in disgust, then gazed down at Ailill. His face was deathly pale and his skin felt cold when she traced her fingers across his cheek.

A tear slipped down Evelina's cheek and plopped onto Ailill's cheek as she scooped him up and cradled him in his arms. Then she wiped the salty, sad liquid with her thumb and whispered, "Everything's going to be alright."

Then she took the first step forward towards the building where Brennus had disappeared into and started to run as fast as her legs could carry her.


	7. chapter the seventh

Evelina couldn't sit or do anything without fidgeting and squirming.

It had been almost half an hour, and she was still sitting down on the sofa. It was supposed to be soft, but because she was so on edge Evelina hardly felt anything except her own anxiousness. Her eyes were firmly glued on Ailill's bedroom door, which was officially The Most Annoying Thing in the Lost Cities now.

Just then, the door swung open widely and none other than Fitz Vacker stepped out of Ailill's bedroom, looking more than slightly worried. Though Evelina was sure he was concerned about his son, there . . . was a certain glow to his face. His mouth was curled down, but his eyes were shining brightly.

Fitz was about to walk past Evelina when Evelina cleared her throat awkwardly. It wasn't every day that she wanted to talk to the jerkface's father, but this was important—she wanted to know how Ailill was doing, and at the same time, maybe dig out some scoop about him and Sophie. All this time, she had been probing Sophie for information—but she had never considered looking at it at other angles—well, Fitz's angle, at least.

Fitz turned around and his teal eyes—so like Brennus's—caught onto Evelina. Evelina thought she saw him gulp, and inwardly, she smirked.

"Hey," said Evelina nonchalantly, standing up from her seat and walking toward Fitz. Fitz didn't do anything, his eyes watching her every move closely, but Evelina could see him flinch ever so slightly. She didn't know what Fitz would do.

But she sure wasn't expecting him to read her mind.

She didn't even know that Fitz was intruding her mind before she heard his mental voice breeze through: _I had no idea you hated me so much. But of course, I shouldn't be surprised._

Evelina's eyes flew wide open, and her jaw fell slack in shock and fury as she stared daggers at Brennus's father. "You read my mind! Without my permission! How. Dare You—"

Fitz held out a finger to his lips, signaling that he wanted silence from Evelina. Evelina seethed with barely contained rage, but she obliged and listened to him as he transmitted to her, _I know I violated the rules of Telepathy—and trust me, I'm really sorry. But you were glaring at me with such a burning passion, I couldn't help it but yearn to know what's going on in that mind of yours. And . . . it_ is _overwhelming indeed—as expected from the photographic memory—but not as overwhelming as—_

He suddenly stopped short, looking like he'd been caught doing something bad. Guilt flashed across his face for a split second before going away very quickly again. But even though Evelina didn't catch that, she did catch the rush of guilt that ran through her body.

And she immediately knew who Fitz was talking about.

 _It's my mum, isn't it?_ She challenged Fitz, who started to look a little uncomfortable. _Come on, say it loud and clear. Sophie. Foster._

Brennus's father stiffened, and Evelina knew she'd hit a sore spot. She couldn't help but feel a teeny little bit sorry for Fitz, but . . . he was the one that broke Sophie's heart . . . However, Evelina somehow felt that she should stop. She could feel immense guilt rushing through her right now, and it scared her. Guilt was probably by far the most dangerous emotion an elf could feel—as guilt could shatter their minds.

Fitz was feeling guilty. As soon as he had started thinking about Sophie. Why?

But then Evelina knew. By watching Sophie's memories and Fitz's actions, it was clear that they had been so very in love before they fell apart. Their bond must have been one of close to unbreakable. And when Fitz hurt Sophie, and Sophie's heart was broken . . . she'd changed into a different person. Fitz must have felt guilty, and tried to apologise and patch things over with Sophie, as seen in Sophie's memory. But Sophie, being too emotionally injured, rejected him . . . Evelina hadn't thought of Fitz's feelings about the whole ordeal, but he must have been pretty hurt too.

 _Never mind,_ sighed Evelina in resignation, turning away from Fitz and gazing over at the door that led inside to Ailill's bedroom. Her thoughts immediately wandered back to Ailill. _How is Ailill?_

Fitz straightened, a relieved expression flashing across his face. A smile flitted onto his lips as he told Evelina, _he's perfectly all right. In fact, it is good news the supposedly bad news bring. Go inside and Elwin will explain to you._

Evelina nodded absentmindedly, her mind spinning. What good news? How could Ailill hitting his head be good news? Her curiosity piqued, she muttered a quick goodbye to Fitz—she hadn't meant to, and rushed into Ailill's bedroom—but not before making a mental note that Fitz didn't mention Brennus or Aurelia. He'd only talked about Ailill. Evelina wondered why that was so—but quickly dismissed it. It was probably nothing she had to worry about.

Ailill was sitting up on his canopy bed, his dirty blonde hair combed neatly. He was in his pajamas, and he was stroking something furry in his hand. Beside him but a good few inches away, Brennus sat on a stout wooden stool as he gazed into empty space. Elwin was on the other side of Ailill, talking to him. His face looked like it was something important, but not something grave. Evelina let out a breath she hadn't realised she had been holding, and strolled to Ailill's side.

The three of them and Aurelia looked up at her. Aurelia immediately broke into a warm beaming grin. "Evelina," she exclaimed happily, stretching out her arms to pull Evelina into an embrace, "it's so good to see you again. How's school?"

Evelina groaned at the boring question adults always asked, then laughed gaily. "It's super—even though Empathy lessons are such a bore."

Aurelia returned Evelina's laugh. "You prefer Telepathy then, I presume?"

"Perhaps, but I also love Empathy," responded Evelina truthfully. "I just feel that the lessons on the ability taught aren't that interesting. It doesn't do the justice of the thrill of sensing someone else's emotions."

From behind them, Brennus laughed. "Well said."

Most surprisingly, Aurelia didn't laugh back as she would have. Instead, her warm smile turned cold as she regarded Brennus. "What about you, Brennus?"

Evelina noticed that she didn't use her nickname for him—Bren—like usual. She wondered if Aurelia and Brennus were still tense after the incident that happened when she had visited Everglen for the first time. Silently, she hoped not. But it seemed like the case, and suddenly Evelina felt a little bad. She was partly the reason that mother and son were having a feud.

Brennus bit his lip as he looked away from Aurelia. "It is fine, I guess."

"So what's the problem with Ailill?" Evelina asked, trying to break the silence between them.

"Hey! There's no problem with me, Eva!" Ailill cried out indignantly.

"Eva?" Evelina repeated, feeling a little confused.

Ailill looked down. "My nickname. I know your parents and friends call you Lina, but I wanted to have another name I can call you by that's different, so I . . . you know." He shrugged, heat tinging his cheeks with pink. "A name only I can call you by."

Evelina grinned, touched by Ailill. "Aww, thanks. And I like Eva too. I guess I can call you Ai."

"That's _love_ in Chinese," a familiar voice spoke up, and everyone turned around to see Sophie standing in the doorway. Her face looked slightly troubled, but beyond that, her lips were curved up—a good sign.

"What?" asked Brennus in confusion as he scrunched up his eyebrows, looking at Sophie like she was a code he couldn't decipher.

Sophie hardly glanced at him as she repeated, "Ai means 'love' in Chinese. I approve of it—it's an excellent and meaningful nickname."

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot you were a Polyglot," grumbled Evelina. Her mother was the famous Sophie Foster, after all, with multiple abilities—Telepath, Polyglot, Teleporter, and Inflictor.

The fact that she'd manifested two special abilities showed that she was no exception.

Sophie sighed, but there was a smile hidden in the corner of her lips. "It does come in handy sometimes." It seemed like she was recalling old times or something similar. There was a wistful look in her brown eyes.

"What about me?" Brennus whined.

Evelina smirked at him. "You already have one—jerkface. Why so greedy?"

Brennus blushed. "Never mind."

"So what is up with Ai?" asked Evelina irritably.

"I told you—there is nothing up with me!" Ailill shouted.

"I didn't mean that. I meant—"

Elwin cracked up. "Sorry," he said when both Evelina and Ailill sent death glares toward his direction. "But Ailill is right. There is nothing wrong with him."

"So what is it?" inquired Evelina, feeling a bit annoyed. "You guys, please stop beating around the bush so much and get straight to the point."

Ailill grinned. "It's awesome." He closed his eyes, like in deep concentration. Then he opened them again, pouting. "But I can't get past you."

"WAIT, WHAT?"

"Yes," said Brennus, a tone of bitterness in his voice. "Ailill has manifested as a Telepath."

"There is nothing to be discouraged about, pretty boy," Ailill said in a half-monotonous voice, half-teasing voice. "Eva, as I already said before, is all yours. Worry not."

Sophie smiled slightly, her eyes blanking out as she stared into the distance, as if she was recalling something. "You fell and hit your head. I manifested the same way too."

"I'm so proud of you," Aurelia gushed, and beside her, Evelina could feel Brennus stiffen, his emotions turning to jealousy. She'd grown so used to sensing his feelings—she almost thought they were her own at first. Her breath hitched as the jealousy trickled into her heart, licking her lips. Brennus's feelings were intense.

 _What did I tell you? Stop being jealous,_ she transmitted to Brennus. Brennus's eyes flew wide open as he turned his gaze to Evelina. His teal eyes—like a perfect pair of pale watermelon tourmalines—startled Evelina a little, and her heart missed a beat.

 _Wait, what?_ she asked herself for the second time this day. She _couldn't_ be falling for Fitz Vacker's son. Not now. Not any time. What was wrong with her?

She ripped her gaze away from Brennus—and that was when she realised that she had been _staring._

 _I can't, Evelina,_ Brennus's thoughts filled her head, making Evelina flinch. She hadn't realised Brennus was able to enter her mind. _I tried—_

_Well, then you suck at trying._

Evelina looked away from Brennus, and a smile crept up her lips as she looked at Ailill proudly. He'd manifested as a Telepath! They could have so much fun. And once the prodigies of Foxfire hear of the news—maybe they would accept Ailill more now—since the Vackers were a family of Telepaths.

"Congratulations, Ai," she said, taking Ailill's hand and squeezing it.

Ailill's small lips curled into a delighted smile. "Thanks, Eva."

Evelina was brought back to that fateful night they were alone. She paused for a moment, gave Ailill the brightest smile she could manage, and said earnestly, "You're welcome."

* * *

"So Mum, what did you and Fitz Vacker talk about?" Evelina interrogated her mother, ready to find out anything important.

Sophie's shoulders tensed up. At first, Evelina thought she was going to lie, but all she said was, "It's none of your concern, Evelina."

Great. They were back to square one.

"But I really want to know," prodded Evelina, willing to use the energy to try and get answers out of Sophie a second time. "It's my concern."

Sophie let out a sigh that somehow sounded more like a groan. "Why are you so curious . . . ? Can't you see that I'm . . . so in pain?" She gestured to around her, then let her hands fly up to her head. Her mother stopped pacing her bedroom floor abruptly, and turned away from Evelina. When she whipped back around, there were two perfect trails of tears streaming down her cheeks from each brown eye, the faint moonlight reflecting off her face, making the wetness on her face glisten slightly. Her face was contorted into a pained expression as she whispered, "I know I don't tell you everything. I know I avoid you, and hardly speak to you. I know my attitude might seem cold, and I know I'm very secretive. But that doesn't mean you can attack me when I do what seems like refusing to you, but is actually because I can't bring myself to relieve the pain of the past!"

Sophie's voice turned into a rasp by the last sentence, and she sighed again, running her fingers wildly through her blonde hair and then burying her face in her palms.

Evelina just stood there, frozen in shock, horror, and sadness as she stared at her traumatized mother. She had absolutely no idea her mother felt like that. Sure, Evelina had always known her questions bothered Sophie a lot, and Sophie was very troubled about the whole thing . . . but she never actually thought how much it would affect her. And she was an Empath—she was supposed to be able to sense other people's feelings. She suddenly felt very sick too. And when something wet plopped onto the deep earthy soil, Evelina realised it was her own tears. She was crying too. And Evelina . . . she hardly cried. She thought of it as a weakness.

Sophie let her finger catch a tear that was running down Evelina's cheek. "Oh, Evelina," she whispered sadly, her own tears streaming down. "I'm so sorry."

Evelina sensed the emotion behind her voice, and a rush of emotions—her own this time—washed over her.

And that was when she realised even though her mother didn't call her by a nickname, she still cared for her. A lot.

* * *

"Hey, kiddo," Keefe called out as he outstretched his arms to hug Evelina. Evelina squealed like she was a five year-old child again, and plunged into his arms, wrapping her own around him tightly. She didn't feel like letting go. She snuggled her face into Keefe's chest, breathing in the smell that was so uniquely him.

"Daddy," she said, smiling up at him.

He smirked, ruffling her hair. "Miss me, Lina?"

"Of course." Evelina's father was an Empathy instructor at Foxfire Academy. Evelina wished that he had been her Mentor, but Dame Marella, the principal of the school, wouldn't hear of it—even though she was a dear friend of Evelina's parents.

"Like father, like daughter," she'd said. "Who knows what kind of horrible things would come out with the two of you together at Foxfire?"

Evelina thought the job didn't suit his mischief-making personality, but Keefe thought otherwise.

"The kids will love me," he'd declared. Evelina had rolled her eyes at that.

"How was Kristen?" Kristen was the name of the prodigy he was teaching for this year. And according to the unbelievable stories Evelina's father had told her, Kristen sounded like a rude, arrogant girl that disrespected her elders and Mentors. She was the daughter of Iorgo and Perona, two ex-Black Swan members. Evelina had met them before, and they were half rude and half friendly. She didn't think much of them, but she surely had a piece of mind to give Kristen.

Keefe gave a face. "Same as always. I know it's not very _dignified_ or _noble_ or whatever they call it, but I SO WANNA BECOME ELWIN SO I CAN LET HER EXPERIENCE THE HORRIBLE TASTE OF IGGY FARTS."

"When she licks the DNA thing on her locker, you mean."

"Yup," said Keefe, his eyes glinting slyly. "Oh man, I drool just thinking about it. Kristina or Krissie or whatever her name is—"

"Kristen."

"—Kristen's face when she tastes it—"

"Dad, do you know anything about what happened with Sophie and Fitz?"

Immediately, Keefe's smiling face vanished, replaced by a serious face, and his joking attitude disappeared. "I thought I told you to drop it, Lina. Foster's already troubled enough, and so is Fitz."

Evelina bit her lip. "Fine."

Just then, Sophie came into Evelina's room. She looked around and clicked her tongue. "Why are you two not dressed in formal attire yet? Faster, or else—"

"On it, Foster!" Keefe shouted, running past Evelina and Sophie and out of the door. Sophie sighed, but she was smiling as she turned to Evelina.

"Same to you." Sophie's fingers brushed against the Sencen crest that lay on Evelina's desk, gleaming in the pinkish orange-gold sunlight, and brought it to her lips for a split second before setting it down carefully again. Then she exited the room without another word.

Evelina sighed, and opened her wardrobe doors, fishing out a sky blue silky gown that reached down beyond her knees. After she slipped into it, she used her silver comb to brush back her hair into a neat elegant ponytail. Evelina wrapped her midnight-coloured cape around her shoulders and pinned it up with her family crest that Sophie had just kissed. And for the first time in forever, Evelina felt at ease.

But not for long.

She exited the room and went down the spiral stairs. Sophie and Keefe were in the kitchen, cooking mallowmelt for the person they were going to visit. Mallowmelt took about slightly more than half an hour to bake, and Evelina's fingers shook as she realised she wanted to grab hold of the chance and snoop around. She knew it was wrong, but nobody would tell her anything. _Nobody._ She could only get little snippets, and it was all leading to nothing. She needed to make a move on her own.

Making sure her parents weren't watching, Evelina slowly turned the doorknob of her mother's bedroom, opened the door slowly, and slipped inside silently, tiptoeing across the carpeted room. She started searching the bookshelves that held thousands of thick books and bound-up scrolls. As she searched the many books, she noticed that one of the books was slightly jutting out. Her suspicion arising, Evelina slowly nudged and pulled the thick hardcover out, and peered inside.

A small dark emerald green box lay untouched, resting in the shadows of the bookshelves. Evelina's breath caught in her throat as she slowly pulled out the box, and held it in her hands. It was almost as light as a feather, and even though there was a layer of dust that blanketed the top of the box, it still felt exquisite, elegant, and filled with care and love.

She stepped in front of a full length mirror, looking at her reflection, and the box that lay in her hands. It had two golden swirls that joined together to clasp the opening of the box close.

Just as she was about to open the box, a shrill voice cried out, "What are you doing!?"

Evelina looked up, startled, her heart palpitating wildly in her ears. Her eyes darted around nervously. It didn't sound like Sophie, or Keefe. So who was it?

"Are you completely blind, or what? I'm right here! Look at the mirror!"

Evelina directed her glance to look at the mirror. And that was when she saw the girl. She was in a corner of the mirror, her hands on her hips and glaring at Evelina.

"W-who are you?" Evelina asked breathlessly, taking a step back.

The mirror-girl huffed. "Honestly! Do elves this day know nothing about spectral mirrors? That's right, I'm a spectral mirror!"

"Why are you here?"

"What do you mean? I've been in Havenfield for so long, and I've been here for at least ten years. You're Sophie's daughter, right? Hmph. You're ignorant, like her. But I guess I should have expected it. Like mother, like daughter."

"Um, okay. Sorry," said Evelina, still a little taken aback by the mirror girl's bluntness. She hid the box and the book behind her back. "Who are you?"

"I'm Vertina," the mirror girl said, relaxing a little. "I've been with Sophie since she was thirteen. Or fourteen. Honestly, the girl can't even count her age the right way." She shook her head in disapproval, then eyed Evelina with a stare that made Evelina want to squirm. "I don't know about you. I preferred that Vacker boy more than that Sencen boy."

Evelina's ears perked up. "Vacker boy?"

"Oh, has Sophie never told you about the former love of her life? Vacker boy, as in Fitz Vacker, then member of the Council, Sophie's Cognate."

"Cognate?"

"Yup." Vertina shook her head. "Ah, it was sure messed up."

"Tell me more."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Sophie specifically instructed me not to tell anyone about what happened between her and the Vacker boy."

Evelina groaned. Vertina was actually sharper than she thought. Or Sophie was just careful enough to warn everybody.

_Great._

* * *

"Where are we going?" Evelina asked. She'd stashed the book and the box into her room, somewhere she was positive Sophie wouldn't chance upon. Now, they were climbing the stairs to the highest level to board the Leapmaster. Keefe and Sophie hadn't told her anything about where they were going, and Evelina felt curious and irritated.

"To Havenfield," Sophie responded. "There's a kind of homecoming or gathering. Grady and Edaline are waiting for us, along with Dex, Biana, and—"

Evelina groaned. "Let me guess. Fitz?"

Sophie nodded, and Evelina could feel her nervousness hike up considerably. "Yes, I'm afraid so. Along with—"

"Their children," Evelina finished her sentence, then groaned again, but it was louder this time. At least Hywel, Terrentia, and Ailill would be coming. But Brennus . . .

She wasn't even supposed to be hanging out with him so much. She had just planned on meeting him for the family gathering at Everglen, and after that, they would pretend that they were strangers again. But now . . . it was almost like they were good friends that hung out almost every day.

And Evelina didn't know it, but she was already slowly falling for him.

* * *

They arrived at Havenfield, a mansion with green pastures and rehabilitation animals roaming around. Far to the side, the Cliffside gates stood tall, towering, and ominous. But nobody really went there anymore. Nobody wanted to.

Every half a year, Evelina would go back to Havenfield to see her maternal grandparents, Grady and Edaline. Sophie told her that she had a deceased aunt, named Jolie . . . when she had mentioned that to Grady and Edaline, they didn't look too comfortable, even though Sophie had assured Evelina that they had already moved on of her.

Hywel and Dex were waiting for them. Dex was seated on the grassy land, staring at the tall weeping willow tree overlooking the sea. Its purple and pink blossoms danced in the wind, and the leaves moved along with them. The braided bark stretched toward the sky, creating a stately effect.

Sophie was also staring at it, and there was a certain sadness to her eyes. Evelina decided to wait for them to finish mourning before saying her hellos to her uncle.

Dex grinned at Evelina. "You've grown so tall, Evelina. Taller than Hywel. Shame on you," he told his son, who scowled.

Evelina laughed, letting the wind whistle in her ears and swirl around her, cooling and calming her spirits down.

Keefe started chattering with Dex, and Sophie said, "Come on. We mustn't let Grady and Edaline wait for us." Which left Evelina and Hywel together alone to talk to each other.

Hywel flashed her a small smile. "It's pretty nice here too, huh?" He gestured around him, at the weeping willow. "Father told me the story of her tree."

Evelina bit her lip as she shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't know until last year." Hywel also knew about her situation.

Hywel's smile turned into a sad one, and they trod on the small twisting path that led to the mansion, side by side. Evelina didn't have to use her abilities to know that Hywel was silently supporting her. That gave her the strength to go into Havenfield, and face the Vackers for the second time this day.


	8. chapter the eight

"You're here," greeted Edaline, flashing Evelina and her family a bright, warm smile. Her turquoise eyes shone and her deep amber hair sashayed from side to side as she made her way toward them.

Sophie closed the distance between her adoptive parents as she neared for a hug. "It feels so good to be home," she mumbled, her voice muffled in the fabrics of the clothes Grady and Edaline were wearing.

Keefe and Dex joined in the hug, and Evelina and Hywel were left there standing awkwardly in a corner, watching their parents hug each other.

Luckily, the awkwardness was cut clean by the entrance of Biana. She beamed radiantly at all of them.

"Where's Fitz?" asked Keefe as he waved to her.

Biana didn't meet Sophie's eyes as she said, "He'll be here soon. He told me that he was still getting prepared for . . . he was still getting prepared dressing up."

Sophie and Keefe didn't look convinced, and Evelina felt the same way as them. Whatever Fitz was getting prepared for, it sure wasn't dressing up.

Terrentia bounded in, her auburn waves bouncing up and down. "Hello, Lord Ruewen, Lady Ruewen," she said politely. Then she caught sight of Evelina and Hywel. "Same to you, Lord Sencen, Lady Sencen, and Lord Dizznee. Where's Lady Dizznee?"

Dex glanced behind him. "I think she'll be here in a short moment. She's talking to her brother at their house right now."

"Wait, if Tam's coming, does that mean Myst is coming too?" asked Evelina.

Sophie nodded.

"Why can't Gandalf come too, then?"

Sophie turned away. "You really want me, of all people, to talk to Stina?"

"I don't really mind her," argued Evelina. "As long Gandalf comes, it's all right—I can withstand it."

"And this is a family reunion or gathering or whatever, right?" Terrentia interrupted. "Gandalf is my distant cousin—surely he can be counted as family. And no matter how bad Aunt Stina can be, she's still good."

Keefe let out a very ungraceful snort, and Sophie elbowed him. "Ow," he whispered.

Sophie smiled. "Fine. I'll go contact Stina. But next time, I'll get Keefe to do it."

"Foster, you can't do this to me . . ." Keefe pouted, widening his eyes and pushing out his lips in an attempt to act and look cute. Sophie looked slightly mollified for a second, before quickly returning to a stern face.

"Shhh." She put a finger on her lips as she pulled out her Imparter and said, "Show me Stina."

The crystal screen on the Imparter clouded over for a few short moments, then cleared up to reveal a scowling face.

"What do you want?"

Sophie's face showed no change of emotion as she said, "Evelina and Terrentia wish to request your son's presence at Havenfield right now. It is a family gathering, and since you are distantly related to Terrentia, so is your son—"

"What blather," Stina grumbled, running her hand absentmindedly through her curly, frizzy hair. "Why not invite the whole population of the Lost Cities while you're at it, since we're _distantly related?"_

"Speak to Gandalf about this, and let him choose his own decision," Sophie stated blandly, and killed the call.

"Hey—"

Stina's voice cut off in the middle of her sentence, and all faded to silence. Suddenly, Sophie began to laugh. Her laughter pealed through the air, and Evelina winced at it. She rarely heard her mother laugh.

"Hadn't spoken to Stina for such a long time," her mother said between chuckles. "Forgotten how satisfying it is."

Keefe high-fived her. "That's why you need me, Foster."

Dex added, "And me."

Biana quickly cut in, "Not forgetting me!"

"Us, too!"

Evelina whirled around to see four elves walk toward them. They were Myst, Myst's father, Myst's father's sister, and . . .

Evelina's jaw tightened as Fitz neared.

"Where's Ailill and Brennus?" she asked.

Sophie frowned and clicked her tongue at her daughter, but she was avoiding Fitz's eyes as she reprimanded, "Evelina, is that how you greet your elders?"

Evelina's cheeks flushed. "Ah. Oh. Sorry. Of course not." She lifted the two ends of her skirt, and dipped a little graceful curtsy. "Hello, Lord Song and Lady Dizznee."

"Call me Linh," Hywel's mother corrected her, flashing a beautiful smile. She had jet black hair with the ends dipped in silver, and the palest of blue for the colour of her almond shaped eyes. Her brother, Tam, had the same eyes and hair, but he had a fierce expression that distinguished him from his twin, who had a gentle one. Evelina started to feel a little uncomfortable—she had only met Tam and Linh once, and that was when she was nine.

"You've grown so big," Linh commented, her eyes doing an once-over on Evelina. Beside Linh, Evelina could feel Tam doing the exact same thing too.

"Evelina . . ." Tam started. Evelina whipped her head up, but she couldn't exactly meet his eyes.

"Yes?" Evelina asked, then cleared her throat, and asked her question in a more polite tone, "Yes?"

"You _forgot_ to greet Fitz."

Oh! So Tam caught that. And from the way he emphasized the word 'forgot', both Evelina and he knew that it wasn't anything close to forgetting.

Evelina forced a smile, and tried to make it look as sheepish as possible. "Oh! My mistake. Sorry." She bowed quickly to Fitz. "Greetings . . . Lord Vacker."

Fitz nodded curtly at her greeting. Inside, Evelina felt miserable. She could feel everyone's stares on her, and she wasn't quite liking being in the centre of attention, in the limelight. Oh why, _why_ did Tam have to embarrass her?

Grady cleared his throat, the same time when Edaline clapped her hands together. They stared at each other incredulously.

"Well . . ." Edaline started, but trailed off when the doorbell rang. "Well . . . I'll go get it." She brisk-walked to the door, and pulled it open. Evelina purposely avoided everyone's stares on her and turned her head to look at the door instead. To her relief, Ailill, Gandalf, and Brennus walked inside, looking a little shy and unsure.

"Great!" Grady clapped his hands together like Edaline had done, probably an awkward attempt to brighten things up and clear the tension. "All of us are here. I understand you kids must be feeling quite confused over this, because it's the first time ever that we've done this. But as Edaline and I explain to you, won't you care to come to the kitchen and have some custard bursts and mallowmelt?"

"Yes, please," Sophie said in a rush, then blushed. "Um, I mean, yeah, of course, sure. I'll love to."

Keefe laughed. "Twenty years and Foster's still as awkward as ever."

Sophie shot him a look. "Twenty years and you're still as childish as ever."

"Awww Foster, you know you love me."

In the corner of her eye, Evelina thought she saw Fitz stiffen ever so slightly.

Heat creeped up Sophie's cheeks.

Tam rolled his eyes. "Can you two quit flirting for a moment?"

Sophie blushed even harder.

Biana laughed out loud. "Ah, the good old days."

Gandalf elbowed Evelina. "Are your parents always like that?" he whispered.

Evelina nodded. "They never stop." But honestly, this was one of the few times she ever saw them act so . . . carefree. Like they didn't have a care in the world. Evelina clutched her chest with her right hand, at the spot where her heart was beating. Suddenly, looking back at her life, Evelina felt very empty and lonely inside of her.

* * *

"A DANCE?" Evelina yelled, shooting up from her seat abruptly. When everybody's eyes switched to her, she sat down sheepishly. But she was still reeling.

"Have any problem with that, Evelina?" asked Tam. Linh kicked him under the table, but his facial expression didn't change. Suddenly, Evelina felt very irritated. What was Tam's problem? From Sophie's rambles about Tam and Linh, she knew that Tam and Linh had a hard past, and because of it Tam could be really edgy and suspicious sometimes. But what did _she_ do wrong?

Inwardly, Evelina seethed. But on the outside, she merely contained her rage and said calmly, "No, not at all. I just overreacted—like, I've never been to a dance, and I was just a little surprised."

_Evelina, it was more than a little surprised . . ._

Evelina glanced quickly at Fitz, then transmitted back, _as you know, I don't care about your views, father of a jerkface._

Fitz clamped his hand on his mouth. Just then, Sophie looked away from him, and that was when Evelina realised that _her mother had been staring at Fitz._

_Oh no—please don't tell me they're going to get together again—or else I seriously will . . ._

Well, Evelina didn't know what she would do, but it would be something horrible.

"So yes, we were saying, this is a dance," Grady started again. Evelina threw him an apologetic look, and he continued without noticing it, "I know that it's short notice—"

_A dance._

"—and you all are not prepared—"

_Oh my gosh, a dance._

"—but that's the reason we told you to dress much more formally than before—"

_A freaking dance._

"—and be assured, we prepared lots of food for the occasion, and you need not dance—"

_Thank you so much! I don't have to dance!_

"—anymore after you have had at least one dance."

_Wait, WHAT?!_

Evelina slumped her head on the table. She didn't like dancing. Unless maybe it was dancing with . . .

_Shut your stupid thoughts up, Evelina. The Ultimate Jerkface is not an option._

"Evelina, are you quite all right?"

She waved her hand, then let it fall onto the table, almost knocking down a glass of lushberry juice. "Proceed with the dance without me. You won't miss me, and I won't miss you either. Isn't that a blissful solution to all of our problems?"

"That would be rather impossible." Tam's voice filtered through her ears.

"You said it would be rather impossible. You didn't say that it was completely impossible. So . . . leave me alone in peace?"

"Evelina, have some family bonding spirit. At least dance one dance? I know dancing isn't really what you like—"

_"_ _What a great understatement."_

She heard Sophie sigh. "Come on, Evelina. One dance can't be much torture, can it?"

"I now present you the title of the Greatest Maker of Understatements. And bye."

"Evelina—" she heard Brennus say, and she almost groaned—and not because she found him annoying. She was too afraid that if she listened to him, she would feel complied again to dance with him. And that was definitely _not_ happening.

A sting of sadness and injustice stabbed at her heart. Of all people she could fall for, why in the world did she just have to fall for Fitz's Vacker son? It would cause a whole lot of problems, not only just for her, but for Sophie too. Evelina was never, _ever_ forgetting the intense pain on her face earlier this day when she had exploded out at her. It was a memory that would stay implanted in her mind forever.

"Uh-uh, you are so _not_ getting into this matter, jerkface." Evelina hated the way her voice cracked as she said it.

"Eva, come on," whined Ailill, his voice going up a few octaves.

"Yeah, Lina," Terrentia, Myst, Hywel, and Gandalf joined in with Ailill's voice, and she almost went deaf.

Evelina paused for a moment, trying to ignore Ailill tugging on her hand. "Fine. But let me warn you, I won't enjoy it."

She had no idea how true her words were until she really experienced them.

* * *

"Hold still," Myst said irritably as she pulled another strand of Evelina's golden hair into the intricate braid she was weaving out of. Evelina tried in vain to squash the irresistible temptation to fidget, and her toes twitched in the heels that Terrentia had given her.

"Why do _I_ have to change my attire and everything?" she complained. "I'm not going to be dancing. Never. Ever."

"And why do you hate dancing so much?" asked Terrentia—a little too sharply—heading for the door. "Hold on, Mystie-girl. I'm going to ask my mum for fashion advice."

"Just so you know, I'm not going to dance with Jerkface and I don't want to," Evelina called out.

Myst rolled her eyes. "Nobody said anything about Brennus this time, okay? Ooh, looks like someone's been thinking about him!"

"S-shut up!" Evelina flushed as she squirmed in her seat.

_Gosh, I sound so much like a lovesick puppy._

Myst smirked. "Go on, go on. I wanna hear more about Jerkface. Anything interesting happen?"

"Even if something like that did, do you really think I will tell you?"

"Well." Myst shrugged. "Terre and I don't really care about your Brevelina love life anymore. Like, who would want to be with a guy that abuses his own brother?" She yanked on Evelina's hair, making Evelina wince in pain.

"He's jealous of Ailill, because Ailill was adopted and yet he gets all the attention from Aurelia. Take it easy on him."

Suddenly, Myst stood up. "There you go again," she said through gritted teeth. "Brennus this, Brennus that. Take it easy on him, when it's clearly him who's in the wrong. Seriously, anyone who's not _blinded by love_ can see that."

Evelina flushed, both angry and humiliated. A sense of injustice and unfairness washed over her as she curled her hands into fists, digging hard into the soft couch. "I don't _love_ Brennus," she said, but she wondered if that was the truth or not.

_Nonsense! Love? Myst doesn't know the seriousness of throwing that word around like an accusation!_

"Really? So after the Everglen incident, why are you hanging out with him more than us now? I thought you hated him. I thought you would actually wake up then and realise fully that he's not worth your time." Myst released Evelina's hair, one strand by one strand, letting them fall back sadly and slowly. "Terrentia and I only forced makeup on you, encouraged you so to go and meet with Brennus all pretty and dolled up because we wanted you to see the truth. Then you would say that before the whole thing happened, you two were total strangers. But Evelina, I know. I know you too well. And I've seen it before, too. You might not have noticed it yourself, but you'd been stealing glances at him all the time, and vice versa." Myst's eyes softened, then hardened again as they met Evelina's shocked and hurt ones. "Oh, and one more thing: don't use Ailill as an excuse to see Brennus again."

She turned away from Evelina and exited the bedroom.

The door banged close with a resounding thud. Evelina just sat there, staring at herself in the mirror, with her messed-up hair and half-done makeup, staring at blank space.

She might have been waiting for Terrentia to come, but Terrentia never came. And for the second time this day, Evelina felt completely and utterly alone.

Evelina didn't understand why Myst was angry at her. Sure, Myst had implied that she thought that Evelina was spending too much time with Brennus and too little time with them, but even though that was kind of the truth, Evelina still valued their friendship no less. Why couldn't Myst understand that?

Maybe because she was too _blinded with jealousy._

Hot tears welled up in Evelina's eyes and spilled, streaming down her cheeks. She _did_ have a crush on Brennus, which she couldn't deny. But whoever was Myst to proclaim that she was _in love_ with him? Did she think being her best friend gave her the authority to jump to conclusions by simply 'reading' her?

_But Evelina, I know. I know you too well._

"You don't know me," whispered Evelina, so soft that even she herself had to strain her ears to catch her voice. She stared at herself in the mirror. "You don't know my heart. You don't know _anything._ You're just judging me because I can't be there for you all the time. You're just judging me because you believe that what you think I am is the truth. But you're dead wrong." She ran a comb through her wavy hair slowly, then rubbed off the makeup on her face. "So what if I like Brennus? Just because I'm willing to give him another chance to prove himself worthy doesn't mean that I _love_ him. Just because I defended a guy that you disapprove of doesn't mean I'm obsessed with him. If only you were a Telepath . . ."

After spouting all her words that came pouring out from her heart, Evelina felt much, much better.

And that was when Evelina finally understood how Sophie felt when she demanded answers from her and threw accusations at her.

Her fingers flew up to the Sencen family crest that her mother had kissed ever so tenderly, fingering every edge and curve of it, her family, herself.

That was right—she was Evelina Sencen, proud daughter of Keefe Sencen and Sophie Foster, and she wasn't just going to break down because of other people's judgements.

* * *

"Evelina, where were you?" Ailill asked concernedly. "You look like you've been crying."

Evelina shrugged. "Everything's okay. Just that something caught in my eye, and it hurt so badly before I managed to get it out."

"So you're alright now?" He inquired.

She forced herself to smile. "Yup. So how's things going here?" She looked around her. They were in the living room right now, but almost everybody else was outside dancing. Her hand gripped a glass of lushberry juice shakily as she stared out at Myst and Terrentia.

Ailill didn't seem to notice her discomfort as he said, "It's kind of boring. Dex danced with Linh, which was kind of cute to watch. Your mother danced with your father. And Father's been sitting far away from them for a very long time now. Maybe because Mum's not here, he doesn't feel very comfortable. Brennus's sitting with him too."

Evelina squinted. "Huh—Gandalf is waltzing with Myst."

_Myst, you're one to talk. You're willingly having your own fair share of 'love'. But of course, you probably don't know I'm here, half-spying on you._

Despite the spiteful and malice-filled thoughts that were swarming around her head, deep down, Evelina actually felt really bad. And a little miserable too. She still didn't know how to talk to Myst. Or Terrentia, in that case.

"Yeah." Ailill shielded his eyes with his hand. "Blinds me. You want to go outside—OH MY GOSH. WHAT IN THE WORLD IS—"

"Kindly lower your volume," Evelina said, feeling a little lazy after the whole big fight with Myst.

"No, seriously, Eva! Look outside. YOUR MUM AND MY DAD ARE DANCING."

"Wait, really?" Evelina scrambled up from her seat, her senses heightened and her mind awakened once again. Her systems blasted to full speed as she scanned her eyes around the dark pastures. Then she caught sight of Sophie and Fitz, their arms wrapped around each other tightly, slowly moving to the faint music that was drifting in from the outside. She gaped, her jaw falling slack. "You have _got_ to be kidding me! Are they really going to creepily end up together?"

"Eww, no! I mean, no offense to your mum or anything—she's super nice—but still. You get what I mean, right?"

"What do you mean, I get what you mean?" Evelina kicked her couch out of the way and slammed the glass down on the kitchen cabinet, spilling some of the lushberry juice.

"Hey, no fair! That was perfectly good juice!"

"Ai! Something totally weird and creepy that must be halted immediately is happening right at this moment, and you're talking about some wasted lushberry juice?" Evelina grabbed Ailill's hand, and bolted out of the mansion. Ailill screamed like a scared little girl all the way out, and Evelina squashed the urge to smother him.

"Ai, keep your volume down. How many times do I have to tell you that?! You know, I thought you were a quiet and obedient child. Never knew you were quite the opposite. Hmmm . . . never mind." They raced out of the door, and the little strands of green grass tickled Evelina's feet as they made their way to the majestic tree, where Sophie and Fitz were dancing under. Evelina's only thoughts as they climbed to the top of the hill: _Must stop them . . . this can't be really happening . . . is Mum going to ditch Dad like how Dad ditched Foxfire lessons in the past . . . and is Fitz going to do that to Aurelia too?_

"Um, Eva?" Ailill asked once they reached the top of the hill. Sophie and Fitz were mere inches away from them, but they were too absorbed in each other to notice their children. "What are we going to do?"

Evelina picked up a beautiful blossom that had dropped from the tree and parted its petals slightly. "What do you think we're going to do?"

Ailill shrugged, but the moonlight and starlight illuminated his face. And by the expression on his face, Evelina knew he was catching on. But he needed to be faster.

"Okay, just look, Ai." Evelina held up the purple-pink blossom, keeping her voice down to a soft, raspy whisper. "Imagine this Panakes blossom is the relationship of Sophie and Fitz."

"They have a relationship?"

"Unfortunately, yes. They were actually together in the past . . . but for some reason I want to know, they broke up, and it became . . . ya know, it became me. And Brennus. If you know what I mean."

"No, I don't know what I mean."

"Shush! Great, half of the song is already gone. We've got to hurry. I'll explain the whole thing later, just know it's bad. And creepy. And uncalled for."

"I can see that." Ailill stole a glance at Sophie and Fitz, and shuddered.

"All right. This"—Evelina held up the blossom—"is the relationship of Sophie and Fitz. And this"—she parted the petals and tore the blossom into half—"is what we want to do. I mean, without hurting anyone, of course. This is a really lame example."

"Three-quarter of the song is gone," Ailill duly noted. "So what are we going to do to—um, tear the flower?"

"Mutilate whatever remnants of rebellious spirit each side might have."

"You know I have no idea what you just said."

"Never mind. It's simple. Just create a diversion. I'll—"

Ailill interrupted her. "I'm no good at creating diversions."

Evelina let out a sigh. "Should've known. All right. I'll do a diversion. But what?"

"That's for you to figure out. Last part of the song coming up!" Ailill said frantically. "It's now or never, Eva."

"Right. You go . . . um, I don't know, get some help or something. In case I do something silly."

"Which you better not."

"Which I better not," Evelina agreed. "All right!"

But as she neared Sophie and Fitz, who were still waltzing, she realised she had no idea what to say to make the two of them separate from each other. Her mind was blank and her throat was dry. However, it was as if there was a certain mysterious force that was controlling her and guiding her what to say.

Evelina bit her lip. "Hey, Mum. Hey, Fitz."

They didn't seem to hear, or see her, and continued dancing. The very last part of the song came on, fast-paced and intense. Fitz started to twirl Sophie around. Evelina closed her eyes for a second. She could hear Ailill screaming, "What are you doing?!" But his voice never reached her brain for it to process his words.

Suddenly, a shadow crossed Evelina's path. She looked up, rather shyly.

"Brennus?" his name crossed her lips, much softer than she had intended.

"No 'jerkface'?" Brennus smiled a little, the moonlight lightening his features.

Evelina grinned to herself as the stupidest idea she had ever thought of came to mind—and without thinking, she grabbed Brennus by the collar and pulled him close to her.

Her breath hitched when her eyes met his beautiful teal ones, only mere inches away. Their toes were almost touching, and Evelina could feel Brennus's warm and slightly ragged breath on her cheeks. And for a moment, she forgot all about Myst and Terrentia, and Sophie and Fitz. And for a moment, she didn't care that Brennus was Fitz's son, and what this could mean or what this could lead to.

"Trust me," she whispered gently as she tilted her head sideways slowly and brought her lips to his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy,


	9. chapter the ninth

At first, Evelina herself wasn't exactly sure what she was doing.

She'd admit it. She had never, ever touched her lips with a boy's before—other than her own father, of course. And she also had no idea how her first real kiss would feel like—especially when she felt something for him.

First was the flurry of emotions that came with it. Boy, they were intense. Evelina wasn't sure if they were hers, or Brennus's, or a mix of both. But they swirled together with the wild butterflies fluttering rapidly inside her stomach, making her heart palpitate even faster. And as she pressed herself against him, she could feel his heartbeat match hers, falling in perfect sync. His lips were tender and they took her in a daze, but she could feel the strength of his jaw, which was aligned against hers.

She felt Brennus stiffen slightly in her arms, his arms glued to his sides. Half-consciously, Evelina could sense Sophie and Fitz running toward them—which meant her ridiculous idea (brilliant piece of genius) had worked. But for some reason, even though she was already breathless, she didn't feel like stopping, and she didn't want to.

Brennus's mental voice rippled into her head.

_What are you doing?_

The tone that came with his voice wasn't angry, but it held a tinge of wariness. And fear. But it also carried curiosity, anticipation, and happiness. Evelina took that as a good sign.

She grabbed the collar of his shirt tighter. _Just trust me,_ she transmitted back to Brennus.

They were left staring breathlessly at each other's faces, their warm, shaky breaths convulsing and mixing together. Evelina's eyes scoured Brennus's face, probing. His teal eyes were wide open in shock, awe, and confusion, showing the pale aquamarine irises, his eyelashes longer and thicker than she'd originally thought. His face was flushed reddish-pink, his mouth gasping in deep breaths, the lips slightly red and swollen.

Then they were ripped away from each other abruptly. Evelina stumbled, pulling herself out of her reverie, but she couldn't help but feel a sense of smugness and pride overwhelm her as she stole another glance at his swollen lips.

_I was the one who did that._

She shook her head as if to shake the disturbing thought away, and lifted her gaze to meet Sophie and Fitz's eyes. Now, she had to deal with yet another couple—who looked absolutely _furious_. Sophie was shooting death glares at Brennus and Evelina like they had just committed the worst of all crimes, and Fitz was staring at them so intently, his dark eyebrows were all scrunched up, a slightly agonised expression to his eyes. But there was one common emotion Evelina could sense in the both of them.

Fear.

Though her mother tried her best to hide it, and so did Fitz.

"Evelina Emma Sencen," she pronounced each syllable of Evelina's full name slowly and carefully, causing her to wince. Her hardened brown eyes bored into both her and Brennus as she continued sternly, "What on Earth do you think you're doing?"

Evelina bit her lip, her mind spinning, then decided to play along. Her fingers flew up to her left ear, and instantly did an intense ear-scratching session. She feigned an innocent expression as she said in a sugar sweet voice, "Why, scratching my ear, of course."

Then her mother did something Evelina wasn't expecting at all. Sophie took a huge step toward her, lifted her right hand menacingly, and slapped her right on her left cheek. Hard.

Evelina felt the pain and agony explode, swirling around her left cheek, which was still ringing from her mother's slap. Her mind was still reeling in shock, anger, and sadness as she lifted her hand slowly to touch her cheek, then caress it slowly in an unusually timid way.

Did elves even hit their own children?

Sophie had never, ever slapped her before.

Evelina was sure she'd committed a lot more serious offenses before, like the time when she teamed up with her father to prank the retired Councillor Alina.

She'd just kissed a boy that she liked.

What was wrong with that?

Even she herself had gotten over her Vacker-hate. Well, she'd reduced it to only Fitz, anyway.

Why couldn't Sophie get over him?

Couldn't she see that she was being so unfaithful and weak to her and her father too?

What gave her the right to hit her because of that?

"You dare to make cheeky comebacks to me again," Sophie said, her voice dipped in venom, "you suffer the consequences."

Her voice had gone cold, like her heart had frozen over, changing her into a person Evelina didn't recognise. Even as she reeled from the slap, Evelina recalled the memory that Sophie had shared with her. Sophie's own thoughts still echoed in her mind.

_It felt so wrong to be so hard on him, or anybody. Her personality wasn't like that at all, but after they fell out and broke up, something had hardened inside of her. Her friends looked at her like she had changed into someone they didn't know._

So after the breakup, Sophie had changed into a totally different person. Like she had finally decided to live up to the fearsome Inflictor she was. Evelina frowned. She knew she was missing something to connect some of the pieces together, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.

"Are you even listening to me?" snapped Sophie, cutting Evelina's train of thoughts off sharply. "We're going home now, Evelina, and so is Fitz. He'll take Brennus. And for now, you're grounded for as long as I deem so. I want to ask you privately about what exactly was going on in your mind when you did that reckless thing."

For the first time in her life, Evelina felt thoroughly afraid of her mother.

* * *

True to Sophie's word, she was indeed grounded. And the sad thing was, she didn't know how long Sophie's temper would last.

Evelina huddled tightly in her canopy bed, sitting upon the messy sea of mattresses. Her Imparter had been confiscated away from her, in fear that she would "do something funny". And when Keefe brought Evelina supper, he wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Dad," she tried speaking. "Is Mum still angry at me?"

Keefe still wouldn't reply, and when he turned on his back to walk away and leave the room, Evelina felt a rush of hopelessness wash over her. It fueled her energy, and words came pouring out of her mouth.

"Dad!" she said sharply, trying to ignore the way her tears pricked at her eyes. "Come _on._ Say something. Don't make me give up on you too."

Keefe sighed and turned around, walking slowly back to the edge of her bed. Evelina set the supper tray down carefully on the bedside table.

"Oh, Lina," he whispered, taking her hand and rubbing it gently, a softness in his ice blue eyes. "What were you thinking?"

Evelina stifled a groan. "Oh, come on, not you too." She let out a sharp breath and stared around her room, her eyes unconsciously landing on the loose wooden floorboard that she had stashed the book and box she found in Sophie's room away before moving away again. Keefe couldn't sense that there was a change of emotions, if not he would immediately suspect something was wrong with the floor.

Her father was silent for a long while, and Evelina held her breath.

"Do you really like him?" he finally said.

Evelina lapsed into silence. "Honestly, I can't tell." It did seem like so. And she knew that it was the truth. But it seemed rather awkward to confess it, especially right in front of her father, who could tell her mother, who would become even madder.

Keefe nudged her and winked. "Stop lying, Lina. You do realise who you got your awesome empathy skills from, right?"

Evelina rolled her eyes, the strain on her chest lightening a little at her father's self-praise. "Yeah, my ancestors."

"No." Keefe jabbed his finger at his chest. "You got it all wrong. It's me. If you admit that, I'll tell Lady Sri to give you a hundred percent in year-end Empathy examinations. She's your Empathy instructor, right?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Bribing isn't going to get you anywhere."

Though the idea of getting hundred percent for Empathy _was_ tempting.

Keefe's trademark smirk grew wider as he realised what she was thinking. Evelina let out a sigh.

"Never mind. I'll think about your trick question later."

"It's obviously not a trick question at all—such a simple question. I don't know about you. I think, maybe Krissie could be faster than you."

Evelina flared up. "Oh no. You just did not. And it's Kristen."

She hurled one of her fluffy pillows at him, which he expertly dodged.

"Lina, you wouldn't win me in pillow fights. I've done this all my childhood." Keefe raised his eyebrows, "Unless you're in the challenging mood . . ."

"No," Evelina laughed. "You can go now."

Keefe tipped his head sideways, and turned away from Evelina to walk to the open door. Grabbing hold of the opportunity, Evelina grabbed another of her pillows and aimed it at Keefe's back. It hit him perfectly in the center, then bounced off onto the floor.

Evelina snapped her fingers, inwardly laughing with glee.

_Success._

Keefe turned around to stick his tongue out at Evelina, a rather childish gesture for an adult, and whirled back to exit Evelina's room.

Evelina shook her head in disapproval, but inside she was celebrating. One parent down, one to go. Keefe was easy to win over. However, trying to mollify Sophie's unfamiliar temper was a feat she was not ready for. She had never ever seen that side of Sophie, and she didn't ever want to see it again too. She shuddered as chills crept down her spine, then remembered something.

Practically vibrating with excitement and tension, Evelina slipped out of bed, squatted on all fours, her hands digging out the loose floorboard in the ground. It let out a slight creaking noise as it lodged out, and Evelina set it down at the side as she lifted up the book and the green box. After she'd done so, she pressed the floorboard into the floor again, and climbed back to bed with the book and the box hidden under the thick fabric of the mattress.

Her hands were trembling as her heart pounded in her ears. Evelina caught the golden clasps of the box, and pried them slowly open.

Her eyes flew wide open in surprise and shock as she saw the silver ring resting inside the interior of the box.

What was that? A ring?

The ring of silver formed a perfect, immaculate and thin circle, and right in the center, a large aquamarine gem was set into the silver. Its smooth teal surface shone with a magic-like glow even in the darkness of the mattress cave, and the silver glinted when it caught the glow of the jewel. Everything about the ring just seemed to scream, _Hey, look, I'm so shiny. Come look at me!_

If that was what it was screaming about, then Evelina had to admit that it did catch her eye. If she was in Atlantis shopping, this ring would most certainly stand out from the other ornaments.

And even though there was only a ring inside the box and nothing else, Evelina could make a very good guess about who was the one who gave Sophie the ring. It wasn't Keefe for sure—Sophie and Keefe were still wearing their identical marriage rings on their fingers. And it wasn't their engagement ring either—Evelina had seen it before, and the jewel was the colour of pale ice, not teal. Also, it couldn't be the ring that Uncle Dex had given Sophie when they were kids—this ring was way too big for a thirteen year-old's finger.

There could only be one answer.

Fitz must have given this ring to Sophie.

With wobbling fingers, Evelina closed on the mysterious, entrancing ring, prying it from the box's firm grasp. It felt ice cold to her touch despite the warmth of the cave of blankets and sent a shiver down her spine.

As she caressed the aquamarine gem slowly, her hand caught a tiny sharp edge of something protruding from the smooth flat surface. Evelina's breath caught in her throat as she lowered her eyes to the jewel.

It was a latch.

With bated breath, Evelina undid the latch gingerly. A small click sounded. Her heart started pounding in her ears with a wild ferocity as she stared at the halved jewel, now a secret compartment.

She picked up the small folded piece of paper, and smoothed it down in her palm. It was as large as her fist, and the parchment was still crisp and pure white despite the many years she knew it had spent in the secret jeweled compartment. Her eyes scanned the calligraphic, elegant cursive runes written neatly on the paper.

_Sophie,_

_I can't do this anymore. I can't pretend that we are still the same old budding Cognates, much less lovers. Dex and Linh have already done us a very great deed, but I could see it in their eyes—there was no need to read their thoughts. They didn't believe in "us"._

_Are we really even meant to be? Sophie, did you even know that I had been lying to you all this time? I'm not compatible with you. And I think the fact that you didn't detect my lie, even though we were the closest, proves just that._

_I'm really sorry—I really am. I wish that I could tell you how much I love you—and I still do. But it's just that I think we're not meant to be at all. You'd be better off without me. He'll do all right—but I think he'll be better with me. Keefe has been eyeing you since we were young. Why don't you ask him out instead, and start a fresh new life?_

_I'm not worth it._

_Love,_

_Fitz Roy Vacker_

"What in the actual . . ." Evelina trailed off, her voice suddenly vanishing. And that was when she looked down, and saw that her hands were shaking. They had unknowingly curled into tight fists. A drop of wetness plopped down slowly onto her crossed legs.

She was crying.

And not crying tears of sadness.

She was crying tears of _anger._ Tears of _rage._

How _dare_ Fitz just break up with Sophie like that? Writing such a pathetic, short letter and stuffing it into the secret compartment of a pretty ring that he would have easily afforded?

After everything Sophie had done for him?

After everything they had gone through together?

Wiping the tears off her face with her arm, Evelina positioned her fingers at the edge of the paper, ready to rip the letter into itty-bitty pieces, then stopped herself.

She slotted the paper back into the secret compartment, clicked the jewel close, and did the latch up. For a long silent moment, Evelina just held the cursed ring in her hand, watching the teal gem glint. Although she was still angry, it calmed her down a bit. She didn't know why, but it was probably of how beautiful it was. The silver had little white diamonds studded on the metal surface, swirling around gracefully until the two ends met and jumped up, holding up the intricate teal jewel.

It looked too pretty to be a mere 'break-up ring'. And by the countless elvin fashion magazines Evelina had read, she knew the design was meant to be for an engagement ring.

Something inside her went cold.

_An engagement ring._

Engagement meant strong chances of getting married.

Fitz must have been planning to give this ring to Sophie as an engagement ring. He had actually been thinking about proposing to her.

But why didn't he?

Why did he change it to become a consolation present for their break-up?

What was the deed that Dex and Linh had done them?

Who was 'he' that Fitz was talking about around the end? How did he have anything to do with Sophie and Fitz, anyway?

Evelina sighed softly, then pushed the ring back into its original place, and shut the emerald green box, pushing it under her mattress. Now, she turned her point of attention to the suspicious looking book that rested on her lap, sitting there demurely and innocently.

Evelina eyed it warily. The title caught her at once, and she had to resist herself to flip the book open right then and devour every piece of information she wanted to know.

_Achieving Cognatedom: Sophie Elizabeth Foster and Fitz Roy Vacker._

_By Leto Kerlof_

She'd heard of Leto Kerlof before. He was the past principal of Foxfire Academy, and he had helped the Black Swan in countless ways. And he was a talented Telepath whose mind was also as impenetrable as her mother's.

Slowly, she lifted the cover, plugging her nose to prevent any dust from attacking her sinuses. The introduction was right on the first page, and the big block letters were impossible to miss. As Evelina started to read Leto Kerlof's note, she felt herself being pulled in by the mysterious, enchanting way he revealed enough interesting facts about Cognates, but leaved enough hidden to turn the pages with a surprising impatience. Her eyes were growing fatigued from the strain of reading in the dark, so she fished in her Foxfire satchel and pulled out a starlight bottle she'd received during Universe lesson.

_Cognates are a pair of Telepaths who work together in a unique and curious way. They can easily achieve things that a single Telepath cannot by combining their energy and balancing each other's personality. Even Sophie Foster, one of the most renowned elves for her overpowering Telepathy ability, failed almost immediately when she bravely attempted to breach the mind of the late King Dimitar of Ravagog. Cognates are required to share everything with each other and their bond is based mainly on trust, one of the most fundamental emotions in the world. The special bond between Cognates is unbelievingly strong, but can be easily broken if the trust between the two is breached or broken in any sort of way. It is extremely rare for a Telepath to find their desired match for a Cognate, much less achieve Cognatedom. In fact, there are less than ten pairs of Cognates in the Lost Cities now, and we are indeed very blessed to find two extremely talented and potential-filled Telepaths coming together to form Cognates—and they are none other than Sophie Foster and Fitz Vacker. In this piece of literature, we will go through their individual profiles, then zoom in at them as Cognates, together and unstoppable._

Evelina frowned in confusion. When was 'now'? She flipped to the back, where the details of the publishing of the book were recorded neatly in a tiny margin.

_Copyright© Leto Kerlof 2018_

That was about fifteen years ago, and possibly slightly more than that. Evelina pressed a hand to her forehead, which felt dizzy. She remembered that Sophie had told her that they got together somewhere in 2017. So they had dated for at least a year . . .

She was about to read more of the book when she heard the doorknob turn slowly. Evelina panicked, and shoved the book under the mattress, diving her lower body into the warm fabrics and nuzzling her head against her pillow. She fluttered her eyes closed, feigning a peaceful expression, and steadied her breathing, slowing it down.

She felt someone creak the door open softly, and step in. Evelina almost forgot to breathe as she squeezed her eyes slightly tighter, wincing when yellow and purple dots filled her vision, causing her head to feel a little painful and disturbed.

The footsteps approached Evelina slowly. By her feet, Evelina could feel the book and the small box resting secretly under the quilt of her canopy bed.

To her surprise, that someone started crying.

"I'm so sorry, Evelina," Sophie whispered, her voice barely a concealed rasp, "I know I shouldn't confine you to who you have feelings for, but . . ."

Evelina bit the inside of her cheek. With the excitement of finding out new information about Sophie and Fitz's past, she'd nearly forgotten about what had happened this night.

She'd kissed Brennus.

And Sophie had proceeded to slap her on the cheek.

Suddenly, the long forgotten pain of the slap started to rise again. Evelina felt her chest slowly heave with sobs, and she pushed them down harshly. She couldn't let Sophie know that she was actually wide awake. If Sophie caught her, she'd be so embarrassed, she would clam up again, as tight as a taut rope. And then she couldn't find out how her mother really felt.

"Mummy is so sorry."

_Mummy?_

"Just"—deep breath, voice dropping even softer—"it's just that . . . Sophie and Fitz. Evelina and Brennus. I can't, Evelina."

Her voice dissolved into a continuous series of soft, jerked sobs as she leant her head against the bed pedestal. And Evelina's heart twisted painfully with each sob.

_Fitz did this._

Evelina let Sophie's tears drop on her cheeks, slowly rolling down, leaving perfect trails of wetness down her skin.

"If you like him, then so be it," she said. "I can't do anything about it, because I want my daughter to be happy. But it just . . . it's just going to cause a whole lot of problems."

Another tear plopped down on Evelina's cheek as Sophie stood up and kissed her forehead gently.

"Sleep well, Evelina."

After that, she turned to leave the room, the door clicking softly behind her. What she didn't notice was the single tear that had dropped from Evelina's eye, mixing with her mother's.

She didn't think of the book or the box again. Instead, with her mother's sign of pure affection, she finally surrendered to sleep and floated off to the dream realm. And for the first time in forever, the nightmares didn't come to haunt her. Instead, dreams of Brennus and her entered her mind. There were numerous dreams about them, but the one that she could remember most significantly was about a small twelve year-old boy with dirty blonde hair and pale aquamarine eyes.

* * *

Evelina woke up to an amazing sunrise. Thin strands of orange, fuchsia, and gleaming golden filled the sky, weaving their way through the azure sky blue. Surprisingly, the moon was already up, a full circle positioned at the far west of the sky. The sun was floating on the other side of the sky, shining much brighter than usual. Evelina shielded her eyes as she squinted at the moon, then at the sun, until the realisation hit her.

"Today's the Celestial Festival!" she exclaimed loudly, a sense of pure excitement and happiness rushing over her as she jumped out of bed. To be completely sure, she bounded over to her Foxfire planner and flipped to the date today. It was true—today was the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, which marked the starting of fall.

"That's right!" Sophie yelled from downstairs. Evelina jumped. She must have shouted so loud that even Sophie had heard her. "Now get your lazy self over here for breakfast!"

Secretly grinning to herself, Evelina lifted her blankets, ready to make her bed. But then she noticed the lump in the mattresses, and she flashbacked to last night when she had investigated the ring and the book.

She extended her hand underneath and pulled them out, staring at them. Then she shook her head, stuffing them into their original hiding place under the loose floorboard. Today was the Celestial Festival, a fun-filled holiday festival for all elves. Sophie and Fitz could wait another day. For today, she was going to enjoy herself, and nothing would make her do otherwise.

"Coming!" she yelled back more cheerfully than ever, the anticipation in her heart growing stronger and stronger by each second.


	10. chapter the tenth

"Get ready," Hywel told Evelina excitedly, grabbing her by the wrist suddenly and pulling her forcefully toward where Myst, Terrentia, and Gandalf were standing.

A little reluctantly, Evelina stopped trying to break free of his grasp and let him drag her toward the two people she was dreading the most right now. Her eyes darted around frantically, but unfortunately there were no other elves that she recognised on the grassy fields of Moonglade, where it was packed tightly with all the elves, gnomes, dwarves, goblins, and other intelligent creatures of the world—even ogres, which the elves had made up with after the defeat of the Neverseen.

But she wouldn't back down, she told herself firmly, lifting her head slightly in confidence and defiance, fixing a fearless stare upon Myst and Terrentia. She was proud that her strong façade didn't waver one bit.

Myst's face was unreadable as she regarded Evelina coolly, and Terrentia had a sort of pained expression plastered on her ice-pale face. Her teal eyes looked especially bright this time—maybe a little too bright to be just excitement.

Evelina ruthlessly squashed the urge to look away from them, and bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself going and not have a nervous breakdown.

Gandalf turned his head from girl to girl, glancing at the three of them both curiously and cautiously. It was a long silence before he decided to open up his mouth and speak. "Guys . . ." he began slowly, a little hesitantly too. "Why are you so . . .?"

He didn't have to finish the sentence for Evelina and the others to convey the full question. The truth was, they all knew the answer. But the problem was, nobody felt obliged to answer him. Or that was the case until Evelina resolved to take action too. She shrugged nonchalantly, but inside she was shaking with fury. To put up with the dramatic act, she raised her left arm slowly, pointing her trembling index finger at Myst. Evelina's lips parted to erupt with a shout that caused others around them to whip their heads to stare at them with startled expressions, "She was the one who exploded at me!"

Inwardly, she cringed at her childish words as she waited along the shocked silence for the others to react. Gandalf and Hywel glanced at each other secretly in confusion and indecision. Terrentia wrung her hands together nervously while Myst's pale pink lips just curved into a wide smug smirk that got onto Evelina's nerves.

"Kind of impossible because I'm still intact, but whatever." Myst shrugged her shoulders and flipped her shiny jet-black hair. A little stunned, Evelina took a second for her to realise what the joke meant.

Before she could reiterate, Hywel cut in smoothly. "Uh, guys?" he asked. "Can you please stop quarrelling? Today's the Celestial Festival—you should be happy! And Evelina and Myst, aren't you two the best of friends? Terre, you should be helping the both of them, not taking sides!"

A firm breeze blew around them, slowly growing into a strong wind, whipping Evelina's hair around and around, obscuring her view—it was as if it was taunting her for not being strong enough to handle a little fight with her friends.

"Oh come on, did you really think that my whole world revolves solely around Evelina?" snapped Myst, her words like razor-sharp daggers, hitting Evelina in the gut much harder than it should have. Then her voice softened as she looked at Evelina. So did the edges of her face as she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger mediocrely.

"Evelina, sometimes other people like me have to face my own problems too," she whispered into the shocked silence that followed.

Evelina swallowed, nervously tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. Her mouth opened to ask the questions that were whirling around like a windstorm inside her mind: _What problems do you have? Does it have anything to do with me? If I caused you problems, I'm really sorry. And why didn't you tell me earlier? How can I help you?_

"Myst, I—"

"Mystie!" yelled a girl from the behind of the five friends. She looked remarkably like Myst as she bounded toward the group of five cheerfully. Her light blue eyes shimmered like the silver on the tips of her father's bangs as she latched quickly onto Myst's arm.

Evelina smiled instinctively at the adorable gesture, but to her surprise, Myst just looked plain annoyed as she glanced down at the girl.

"What, Elliana?" she asked in an irritated tone of voice, evidently trying to avoid her younger sister.

Evelina blinked as Tam walked forward, placing a calm hand on Elliana's shoulder. "Come on, Elliana. Let's not bother your sister. You have a descrying appointment with Councillor Terik—let's not be late for that."

Myst interrupted Tam abruptly. "Actually, I think Elliana would like to enjoy herself for one day, Father. Let her play with her friends for once. Hasn't she had enough stress for her small lifespan?"

Tam looked hesitant. "Well . . . but your mother . . ."

Myst grunted slightly, then turned away from Elliana's pleading expression—which turned into an angry but resigned look as she let out a sigh that sounded more like a weary groan. However, she didn't refuse her father. Instead, with an irritated frown on her face, she let Tam lead her to the far-off distance, where more elves were setting up tablecloths to sit on the green grass with their respective families.

"It's not even evening yet," Evelina observed, purposely avoiding Myst's eye even though she could tell that she was staring at her, as if she was telling her, _didn't you see that was a problem just now?_ "I think my parents have something planned out for the afternoon."

She tried to squash the ever-growing regret and disappointment as Gandalf smiled radiantly at her. "Go ahead," he told her.

Evelina drew in a sharp breath, nodded quickly, then took off sprinting fast toward where the Sencen tent was already set up. As her eyes scanned the shelter quickly, she realised that there were many people that she didn't recognise at all. How much did she really know about her family?

Keefe spotted her first, and waved her over to a wide, deep green mat that he was sitting cross-legged on.

"There you are," he said, a certain emotion that she couldn't recognise creeping slowly into his voice. But after a second, it was gone as he continued casually, "Your grandfather keeps requesting to see you."

There was a newfound bitterness in his ice blue eyes, and an edge to his face that Evelina had never seen before. She glanced quickly at the corner of the tent, where Lord Cassius, her grandfather—also known as her father's father—sat calmly, his eyes closed tight as if he was in some kind of trance.

"Where's Mum?" asked Evelina, a little nervous and jittery. She had never really conversed with Keefe's father before in private, and definitely not when he was looking so weird. Most of the time, their only exchange of words happened when Lord Cassius ranted on and on about how she needed to live up to the Sencen legacy and not learn from her father.

Evelina had frowned at that. She knew that his father disapproved of Keefe's prankster ways, but that was exactly one of the things that made him so well-liked.

And now that he wanted to see her in private, and he requested it himself . . . Evelina wasn't so sure about this whole thing. She gripped her father's arm for support, feeling his jumpy but angry emotions rushing through her, and she knew that Keefe could feel her emotions right now too.

"Foster's with Grady and Edaline," replied Keefe, but he didn't look at her as he said it. His emotions were neutral as he jerked away from Evelina's grip abruptly. "Why don't you go and see him first? He's been waiting for you for a very long time already."

Evelina let out a sigh, dropping her arm to her side in defeat. "Okay."

"I'll go see Dex and Linh first, so after you're done with him, just sit here and wait for us, okay?" Keefe asked her, and Evelina suddenly had a feeling that he needed her reassurance with this matter, though she didn't know why.

So, she nodded silently, and watched him wave back at her, turn back, and head out of the shelter. Evelina didn't back away a few steps until he was only a speck in the distance, dissolving into the large crowd of colourful elves.

"Dex and Linh, huh?" Evelina whispered, repeating the words Keefe had spoken, grasping the hem of her tunic until her knuckles turned white. Her mind played the words in Fitz's letter to Sophie over and over again like a broken record, haunting and taunting her eerily.

_Dex and Linh have already done us a very great deed . . ._

What had Dex and Linh done for Sophie and Fitz? What was so important about it? And could the reason why Keefe was now going to see them be somehow related to this?

Evelina felt an itch to take off after Keefe and eavesdrop on Dex, Linh, and his conversation together, but too bad she had to talk to Lord Cassius. She resisted the overbearing temptation to sigh out loud, and weaved through the Sencens toward the corner of the tent where Lord Cassius was still sitting with his eyes closed. She tried to push off the stares that her relatives were giving her and ignore the whispers that leaked into her ears once in a while.

_Hey, isn't that Keefe Sencen and Sophie Foster's daughter?_

_Why is she going to see Lord Cassius?_

_Rumour has it that because both his wife and son turned rebel, his sanity shattered and Sophie Foster had to heal him!_

Evelina frowned at that. She had never ever heard of that one before. Did Lord Cassius's mind really break? And did Sophie really bring him back?

_Ha, too bad her Cognate wasn't there too, so he could help her!_

Evelina's footsteps came to a stop, and the whispers died out too. An awkward silence stretched out as Evelina stared forward at blank space.

What did they mean by _that?_ Fitz wasn't there too?

Did that mean that Fitz's mind had been broken too?

Then what happened to him?

A niggling voice in the back of her confused mind cautioned her not to listen to gossipy rumours. And since she was now put into a very difficult and awkward situation, Evelina decided to listen to it . . . for now.

She commenced her walking again, but at a slower pace this time, and a relieved sigh seemed to breeze through the Sencens. But soon, Evelina had to stop again as she had reached Keefe's father. His eyes were still closed, but when Evelina stretched out an arm and shook him gently by the shoulder, his eyes flew wide open, startling Evelina as the both of them stared at each other.

Then Lord Cassius's pale lips stretched into a twisted, crooked smile.

"Evelina Sencen," he whispered, so softly that Evelina had to strain to hear him. And when she caught his voice, it sent shivers down her spine. "You're finally here. We have lots to talk about."

"Is staying here safe?" she asked in a firm voice, glad that it didn't waver despite the chills she was experiencing right now. If the rumours were true . . . if Lord Cassius really did break his mind before . . . he couldn't be totally right in the mind. Oh, whatever had Keefe gotten her into?

Instead of answering immediately, Lord Cassius stretched his arm, dragged another chair beside him toward Evelina, and gestured for her to sit. "You're a Telepath, aren't you? Let us have a telepathic conversation, and none of it will be leaked out."

Evelina had to admit, Lord Cassius was clever—just like Keefe. But that didn't decrease her worry and nerves one bit as she hesitantly sat down on the stool and dragged herself closer to Keefe's father. Her fingers trembled slightly as she positioned them gingerly on his temples. His skin was surprisingly cold as she stretched her consciousness into his mind.

Evelina pulled back her fingers as fast as possible the moment she had trodden the first step into Lord Cassius's mind. Lord Cassius smirked, achingly resembling her father's trademark.

 _Why so afraid of me?_ He thought. _I won't bite you._

 _That's what all adults say._ Evelina glared daggers at him. _Until I can trust you, don't even try asking that question again._

His lips curled down slightly, but the smirk still remained. Evelina rolled her eyes as he thought, _you're a defiant one, aren't you? Young elves these days mostly are. But most of it will crumble down easily, am I right?_

Evelina tried not to gape at him in shock, but by the triumphant look on his face, she knew she had done exactly so. She didn't even need to ask the classic question 'how do you know' as he added, _don't think elves like me don't know. On the outside, I may seem like I'm a cold, heartless father that only cares about what his son achieves, but on the inside, I'm actually struggling to maintain this figure. And I've had plenty experience. Keefe was always attempting to build a barrier around himself, pushing out a sarcastic and joking personality in order to enhance it. And I'm impressed he put up with it so long. But that didn't last long when he found out the news about his mother, did it?_

A tinge of sadness had appeared in his eyes, making him look a thousand years older than he probably was right now.

 _What does this have to do with anything that you wanted to talk to me about?_ Evelina asked. She felt bad for interrupting him, but she felt like it was going nowhere. Well . . . that was what she was trying to think. Keefe's father was right about everything. She was so like her father, trying to put up with a strong face to deal with everything that threatened to destroy and shatter her piece by piece. But, Evelina suddenly realised, it wouldn't go anywhere. Her stupid façade would crumble down sooner or later, and all effort would turn into nothing.

But sometimes, she had to be harsh in order to protect herself.

Just like what Sophie had been doing all this time.

Maybe that was why she had always been a little more distant than her father. Maybe that was why she called Fitz a jerk, even though she was seriously breaking down inside.

It was to make herself stronger, or at least, believe that she was strong enough to handle everything that came crashing down ruthlessly onto her.

She thought back to her fight with Myst and Terrentia. It had all happened too quickly to make any sense, and it had hit her harder in the gut than she would've liked to admit so.

Myst's words rang into her mind loud and clear, repeating themselves over and over again like echoes vibrating in a cave.

_Evelina, sometimes other people like me have to face my own problems too._

Everyone had their own problems, Evelina realised. It was just that they didn't like other people to think that they weren't strong enough to handle it by themselves, thus resulting in hiding their problems from one another. But if everyone came together to help each other resolve their problems and lighten their hardships, the world would be a much better place than it was today.

 _What was the point, you ask me?_ Lord Cassius thought sarcastically. _What was that whole load of inspirational thoughts that came piling into my poor mind just a second ago?_

Evelina resisted the urge not to laugh. _Okay, okay, I get it. Thank you._

And she meant it.

_But seriously, what did you really want to talk to me about?_

Lord Cassius's joking expression changed immediately. He wrung his hands together, looking down. Then he raised his head and looked into Evelina's eyes, startling her slightly. _Well . . . you're not going to like what I'm going to talk about, but I want to find out exactly what's going on with you and Brennus Vacker._

Evelina stifled an exasperated groan, but she knew that Lord Cassius could still sense her emotions radiating out from her. Why did Brennus keep getting into her life, and why did other people have to intrude? Didn't they know that she was already experiencing a lot of confusion with Sophie and Fitz and stuff like that?

_Ah, so you're interested to find out about those two and what really went on with them, huh?_

_Correction: I'm not interested, I'm_ dying _to find out. Do you know that nobody ever tells me anything about them unless I really have the utmost energy to prod them on?_

Lord Cassius let out an easy chuckle. _Well, I'll be one of them too. But I reckon you've already found out a lot from the rumours just now._

Evelina frowned, but inside she was spinning with excitement from the suspense. _The small talk was all true?_

Fitz's mind was broken? What?

_Of course it was. Miss Marella Redek only spreads information that is completely true. And she may be slightly more obliged to tell you more about what you want to know—but as you know, Miss Foster told everyone not to tell you anything. So try your luck—unless you're really observant and persuasive, I doubt you would find anything important at all._

Evelina bit her lip. _As I already know. But what do you want to know about me and Brennus?_

_Do you really like him?_

She rolled her eyes at him, letting him know that she was making the point clear that she had already heard this question a million times from everyone else. _That classic question. But . . . if you really want the truth . . . yes, I do._

 _But I don't love him,_ she added quickly, suddenly thinking of Myst's wild accusation.

To her relief, Lord Cassius merely smiled. _Of course you don't. Love is a far deeper emotion than infatuation._

 _It's not love,_ agreed Evelina, _but I don't really think it's just an infatuation. I think it's . . . somewhere in between the two of them._

Lord Cassius rested his head on his fisted hand, and leant closer to Evelina. Evelina forced herself not to look away as he asked, _if it's not love, and if it's not infatuation either . . . what would you call it?_

Evelina shook her head gently but firmly. _Honestly? I don't have a name for it. I just know that it's a wonderful experience, and I'm growing up from it._

Keefe's father smiled again, but this time, it really reached his eyes. He placed a hand on Evelina's shoulder. For the first time, Evelina didn't shrink away. Because, for the first time, it felt like a true grandfatherly gesture.

Instead of thinking out loud his thoughts, he spoke this time. His clear and loud voice alarmed Evelina slightly, but she managed to hold still as he looked into her eyes.

"You've grown wiser and more mature from the last time I saw you," he said, a certain emotion—happiness? Pride?—creeping into his voice. "I think that's a feat to be truly proud of."

"Yeah," Evelina agreed heartily, feeling a burst of pride erupt inside of her. The thing was . . . ever since she really got to know Brennus, she had already grown up a lot. And suddenly, she was glad that she hadn't tried to escape this talk with her grandfather—it put her in a real thinking position, and somehow, she felt stronger and smarter and braver to face whatever was pushed into her way.

* * *

Evelina stared at the ashen grey sky that hung over Siren Rock, then glanced over at the dark, dark storm clouds that were rushing over from the horizon. Beside her, Myst, Hywel, Hywel's younger sister Erina, Elliana, Sophie, Keefe, Tam, Linh, Dex, and Myst's mother Cyrilla stood overlooking the tall, sloping hills.

Linh, Hywel's mother, stood a small distance away from them, waving her arms elegantly and whispering some strange, swishy-sounding words. The storm clouds seemed to move with her arms as the sky slowly darkened.

"Um—" Evelina started, but Cyrilla shot her a death glare and placed a finger on her lips with scary solitude. She shut up, but inside she was reeling, a little angry. Why was Cyrilla so dominating over her? She knew that she was disrupting Linh, but all she meant to do was ask what was going on. Was that why even Tam was afraid of her?

Sophie must have sensed what was going on in her mind, because she transmitted to Evelina, _don't worry about Cyrilla. Her personality is just like that, and we can't do anything about it. About your queries of what exactly is going on, Linh is going to practice the water cum shadow show she's going to perform with Tam later back at Moonglade, before Orem Vacker's light show comes on. This is the first time they're going to do it, so they're a little nervous._

Evelina nodded in understanding, her angry emotions dissipating almost immediately as she stared at the tranquil figure of Linh. Suddenly, she could sense the temperature drop slightly as the sky turned dreary black, a few drops of rainwater falling steadily from the sky. Linh closed her eyes as the shower turned into a ferocious storm. The heavy raindrops hammered down on Evelina ferociously, but strangely it felt calming, as if rain was giving her the therapy and healing she needed from everyday's troubles.

 _She needs an abundant amount of water for a truly spectacular show,_ explained Sophie. _And later you'll see how Tam's ability as a Shade comes into play._

After a few more minutes, the rain stopped falling. Evelina gasped as her clothes clung to her skin like a sticky plaster because her whole body was drenched with water. Linh shot them an apologetic smile, then flicked her finger, lifting the water from their bodies and gathering it together with the other water that had fallen into a humongous sphere of glistening water, spinning wildly in the crisp air. Evelina gaped at the scene, almost not catching Tam running toward Linh.

Then Tam leaped high into the air, and Linh quickly stretched out her arms, turning the water sphere into a long straight horizontal slide, catching Tam as he skidded across it, somehow stepping on the water as if it was solid. He pulled every shadow within his grasp—including Evelina's—gathering all of them together into one huge lumpy clot of darkness and separating them again to form three words: THE LOST CITIES. Then after that, he let go of the shadows, and Linh whisked away the water from beneath him, shooting into a thin long jet of blue that illuminated the dark sky as Tam landed beside her perfectly.

Tam bowed deeply and Linh curtsied as everyone clapped for them.

"Was that all right?" Linh asked, slightly out of breath as she gasped for air, clutching her twin brother's arm tightly for support.

Tam pulled back a strand of her black-silver hair from her forehead as he slung an arm over her shoulder. "It was magnificent," he reassured her. "You were amazing."

Linh stuck her tongue at him. "Nah, you always say that—I don't trust you on this." She turned to look at Sophie and the others. "You all say it—did we do okay?"

"Tam wasn't lying at all," Sophie said. "You two did a wonderful job."

"It was awesome," added Keefe, and the others nodded their agreement, even Cyrilla.

Linh let out a relieved sigh. "Thank goodness." She turned to look at Tam and smiled. "I guess we could do the same now, later at the real thing with thousands of people watching us."

Tam leaned in and whispered something into her ear. Whatever it was, it made Linh smile even wider.

Evelina wished she had a sibling. Tam and Linh were so close, and it looked like it would be so much fun having a sibling to talk to and hang out with other than her parents or her friends. She wondered how it would be like, to have one. But now, she would never know, or experience it firsthand . . .

She pushed away the lingering sadness fiercely, refusing to let anything dampen her high spirits for the upcoming fun that was the Celestial Festival. Out of all things, if she said she wasn't looking forward to seeing Brennus again, she would be lying indeed.


	11. chapter the eleventh

It turned out, Brennus didn't want to get found.

Or maybe Evelina's searching skills just sucked.

Well, either way, Brennus was nowhere to be found. It was as if he had manifested as a Vanisher, disappearing into thin air. She had ran around the whole Moonglade, scouring for a familiar chocolate brown-haired boy about her age. She had even went over to the Vackers' tent to look. Ailill and Aurelia had waved at her, and she resisted the urge to cringe as the prestigious family members all turned their heads to stare at her.

Before Aurelia or Ailill to come over to talk to her, Evelina ducked her burning red face shyly, racing out of the compound. She ran and ran, trying to ignore the intruding whispers that crawled into the back of her mind, trying to drill a hole into her strong ground. She pursed her lips together and forced herself not to cry. She knew that being Sophie Foster's child wasn't easy. But sometimes she just wished people would mind their own damn business and stop gossiping like they had nothing else to do with their sad pathetic life—not mentioning the fact that Evelina's life was sad and pathetic too.

She lifted the dark hood from her cape so that it covered her face, and veered away from the main crowd and maneuvered herself to the back of a random tent—it didn't look as big as the other tents. She was too winded to even look at the gleaming family crests that stood proudly on the tip of each tent as she stooped down to rest on a flat, abandoned rock that was piercing a small hole in the tent it was right beside.

Evelina's fingers fluttered down to run her fingers through the soft, ticklish grass—they were swaying gently from side to side in the warm, slightly salty late afternoon breeze. The glaring sun hung straight above her, its heat rays boring into her head, like it was mocking and taunting her as she thought of Brennus. Sophie. Fitz. Dex. Linh. Ailill. Keefe. Even the tense feud between Aurelia and Brennus. And then she thought of herself, and thought of the whispers of small talk. The ones that said that Brennus's father's mind had been _broken._

It was kind of disbelieving and shocking to think of—one of the strongest Telepaths ever in the Lost Cities, having his mind broken? But then Evelina realised, _everything could be broken by guilt._ Even her own mother had been on the verge of breaking when she was faced with seemingly impossible difficulties that had been caused solely by her.

But what would Fitz Vacker be guilty about? He led the perfect life. He had a perfect family, a perfect status, a perfect everything. Well, at least now, he didn't seem to be troubled about anything. Except—

_Oh._

Evelina sat up straight at the sudden realisation that was dawning right before her very eyes. She flashbacked to that time when she had mustered enough guts (not that she hadn't any) to talk to Fitz, and that moment when she had mentioned Sophie . . .

His expression had instantly turned guilty.

Could _Sophie_ be the thing he was guilty about? There was a high possibility. And now that Evelina thought of it, some of the little puzzle pieces she'd collected over the short time started to fit together and finally make sense. In Sophie's flashback, Fitz had hailed her to apologise to her for whatever he'd done to make them separate from each other, and Sophie had downright rejected him. She had also been an emotional wreck, even though she was playing cool outside.

But surely Fitz could sense that. He was— _had been_ —her Cognate before. And according to the introduction to Leto Kerlof's Cognatedom book, the relationships of Cognates were built on a strong, full sense of absolute trust and understanding. Having been Sophie's Cognate before, Fitz would surely understand her the best—maybe even better than Keefe did, even though he was an Empath. And Fitz would have known that Sophie had turned into a totally different person— _and it was all because of him._

And that may have possibly caused him to feel so guilty that his sanity shattered.

And then, Sophie would have to heal him.

_There! Now something makes sense._

But Evelina still didn't know what had happened to _make_ Sophie and Fitz break apart. People might laugh at her for not minding her own business, but this was her _mother._ And it had totally torn her apart. She needed to know what happened in order to help her mother, in order to truly support her.

Suddenly, she was pulled out of her reverie by a gentle shaking of her right shoulder. "Hey. Hey, Evelina?"

She looked up. Saw Brennus. Forgot to say anything for a long moment.

He cleared his throat, shuffling his feet awkwardly.

Evelina blinked. "Right. Hi, Bre—Jerkface. What do you want?"

Brennus rolled his eyes, and sat down on the other side of the rock beside her. Evelina's heart skipped a bit as he looked into her eyes. "I think you know the answer to that. Um, what was that crazy thing you did last night?"

She blinked again. "It was only last night? Huh. I thought it was ages ago already."

Her cheeks heated up as Brennus cracked up. Then he suddenly stopped, and turned serious. "Are you okay? You're not acting like yourself."

"And how would you know how I am?"

"What, I've been your friend for the past few weeks, and you still think I don't know you? Please, I think I know you better than your mother. No offence," he added when he saw Evelina's teeth grit together suddenly.

Something in her snapped. It reminded her of that time when Myst had claimed that she knew her better than anyone else. _"No offense,_ but a few weeks is not really a good enough time to get to know someone really well. Only Cognates do. But I don't really like the fact that your dad and my mum were Cognates. It creeps me out, and I don't like your dad."

"Shame," he said. "I kinda like your mum." When he noticed Evelina's expression, he rolled his eyes for the second time. "Not in _that_ way. But they were Cognates? No way. How did my dad not tell me that before?"

Evelina absentmindedly pulled at a strand of grass. "I also didn't know. I had to learn that piece of information from an actual mirror. Wow."

"What?"

"Never mind. It's not important how I got that piece of information. But it kind of shows that our parents are constantly hiding things from us. Like what really went on in the past with the two of them? I bet you also know little, like me. Well . . . I know more, but that's not my point—"

"So what is your point?" Brennus sounded a little impatient, but Evelina could feel the curiosity burning in his veins. And that was when she realised they were very close to each other, their elbows and thighs nearly touching.

She shook the thought off, and continued, answering Brennus's question, "My point is, my mum and your dad were a really loving couple once. That one you should know. But then, something really, really big happened and tore them apart. My main goal in life is literally to find out what happened. Oh, and did you know that your dad's mind was broken before, but then my mum healed him?"

She watched him blink in shock, once, twice, his body frozen as he turned his eyes to meet Evelina's. A zing ran down Evelina's spine, and her stomach had a weird giddy feeling. It may have been the shocked feelings from him burning through the pit of her heart. Or it may have been the intense way he was now staring at her. Whatever it was, it was an unfamiliar feeling.

"How?" he whispered, so softly that Evelina didn't catch him speaking at first. "He . . . never told me before. Are you sure his mind was . . . that?"

Evelina stifled an exasperated sigh as she nodded firmly. "Broken. Yes, he was. And don't think I'm the know-it-all—I got that information from the stupid gossips that had been going around."

Speaking of rumours, she recalled Lord Cassius telling her that she should visit Elmira's mother, Marella. Hmmm. Maybe she could find her this night, but even if she did, there was a slim chance that Marella would want to talk about it. And even if she was willing to, time was rushed during a festivity, and Dame Marella, being the principal of Foxfire, would have a lot of people to talk to. Not to mention, tend to her own family. So tonight was not a very good idea.

"Earth to Evelina," Brennus said, waving his hand in front of her face. She jerked, pulling her face back from his hands a few centimetres. He chuckled. "No need to be so startled—it was just that you were having one of your blank-outs again, and I hate it when you do that. Even though it's kind of cute."

_Did he just call her cute?_

Evelina held back a blush that was threatening to surface to her cheeks as she scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Please. Now, back to the main subject. I found out that after our parents broke up, your father made a fruitless attempt to make things back to where they were. My mother totally rejected him. Because in the short time after the breakup had happened, she had changed into an emotionless person, apparently. And she knew that they would never be the loving couple they once were anymore. That shattered her. But what she didn't know was that Fitz was even more shattered, till the point that his mind broke."

Brennus was silent for a long while, and Evelina bit the inside of her cheek anxiously as the awkward silence stretched on for what seemed like an eternity until he finally spoke up again. "I didn't know that this whole thing was so messed up. I mean, I knew that your mother and my father were once girlfriend and boyfriend, but I didn't know that they actually had something . . . much deeper."

"Oh yeah, did I mention they were Cognates?" cut in Evelina sarcastically. Brennus's eyes widened.

"Wow. So they were _that_ deep." Awe leaked into his voice. "Yeah. And I've heard a lot about Lady Sencen, and how she was basically the strongest Telepath the world had ever seen. She's my idol. And"—slight pink tinged his cheeks—"she's really pretty."

Evelina rolled her eyes. "Oh goodness."

"Like you."

"What the heck?"

Brennus suddenly placed his finger on her lips, silencing her. Despite her beating heart, Evelina wrenched the finger away, sending a death glare toward him. "And when I first saw you at last year's Celestial Festival, I . . . started falling for you."

Her heartbeat hammered in her ears, too loud now to be ignored. Evelina squeezed her eyes shut, intense heat rushing up her cheeks. _Is this actually happening?_ She'd always known that Brennus had liked her, from when Elmira had basically stated the fact in front of the whole Level Five, but . . . now he was actually _confessing._ And he didn't seem embarrassed about it.

Not that she didn't like him . . .

At first, she downright hated him with a burning, burning passion. The hatred was so strong that it could probably spark Everblaze. He was the son of the elf that had crushed her mother's heart, and it didn't seem possible to _not_ hate him. Anyway, he really did look like the spawn of the devil . . .

But since when had that changed? Everything, from the moment her mother told her to go to the Vackers', and to the unbelievable, vehement juncture that was happening now. She could still feel Brennus's warm breath on her cheeks, mixing in with the gentle drafts swirling around them. She opened her eyes, and the tips of their noses were almost touching, sending a tingling sensation down her gut. Brennus's impossibly teal eyes were filled with cloudy confusion, and maybe a little bit of anticipation. Her nervous feelings swirled around with his, and it slowly became a wild hurricane she was struggling to keep control of.

"Evelina," his voice rang out loud and clear in his mind, echoing and echoing over and over again like they were in an endless cave.

"Brennus," she whispered, as their eyes interlocked.

Time seemed to slow down as they stared at each other, keeping deadly silent.

After what seemed like an eternity, Brennus reached out his hand and lowered Evelina's hood, revealing her face. Evelina's breath caught in her throat as he cupped her face in her hands.

"I'll like for you to trust me too."

And then he kissed her.

Time returned back to normal as Evelina jolted up, suddenly frozen into place. It felt familiar, all too familiar. The feeling of Brennus's lips on hers. The way his arms were wrapped around her. She curled her arms around him tightly too, suddenly finding the strength and support he gave her and returning it back.

She didn't know how long they stayed that way before they pulled back, both breathless and panting. Her lips tingled, and her whole body was burning with a sensation she had never experienced before. Their feelings jumbled together, both nervous but awed.

Evelina glanced around. Fortunately, no one seemed to be around—everybody had left for the stage, where Tam and Linh's water cum shadow show was beginning. That said . . . she had better go and find her family and support Tam and Linh.

Before she could do anything else, the Imparter inside her cape pocket vibrated. She took it out slowly and read the message displayed in bright blue letters from her mother:

**We're with Uncle Dex's family. The show is about to start. I reckon that you're with Brennus and Ailill, so if you plan to spend the night with them, I wouldn't mind at all ;)**

**-Mum**

Despite her kind words, Evelina was slightly creeped out at the winking face at the end of the message. What was _that_ supposed to mean?

Although she really wanted to spend time with Ailill and Brennus, Evelina knew that her parents would be happy for her to join them for the performance. Thus, she typed back a message:

**It's okay, I'm coming over now**

**-Evelina**

She was about to send the message when her fingers paused, a thought suddenly hitting her. If her parents and Dex's family didn't know that she was going over to them now, they would probably still be talking about what Keefe had been planning to discuss with them. She didn't know what it was, but it was so secretive, Evelina was sure that it had something to do with Sophie and Fitz.

So, she erased the message she was about to send, and tucked the Imparter into her pocket again. And then she looked back at Brennus, and her heart skipped a bit when he met her eyes.

_Gosh, get a grip of yourself, Evelina Sencen._

"So?" he asked quietly, smiling slightly at her. "You going to your family now?"

Evelina nodded, and laughed softly at his disappointed expression. "Don't worry. I'll see you soon, after the light show. I hope so."

He held her gaze. "I hope so too," he said solemnly.

She waved at him, and Brennus waved back. The two of them walked their separate ways, two young hearts that would find their way back to each other soon enough. Inside, Evelina smiled to herself.

Evelina tiptoed her way into the left side of the vast grass patch, sure that Sophie, Keefe, and Dex's family was there. She stopped short when she caught side of them. Sophie, Keefe, and Dex were talking in a small, hushed group, but they needn't have bothered. The noise of the crowd was so loud that Evelina couldn't even hear her own voice when she took a risk and shouted.

No one payed any attention to her. If she was in any normal circumstance, Evelina would have felt shunned away. But this was not a normal circumstance—it was a time of investigation and prying.

Evelina knew that she shouldn't eavesdrop on other people's conversations, let alone her relatives', but the curiosity was suffocating her. As stealthy as a cat getting ready to pounce on its prey, she lifted her hood and covered her face with shadows, then walked silently behind where they were standing, leaving a good space to avoid being conspicuous but still close enough to hear what they were saying clearly. She reached inside her bag and pulled out her Cognate book. She knew she shouldn't have brought it, but now, there was a use for it.

She pretended to read as she strained her ears for their voices.

". . . What about Ailill?" Sophie's voice came through, and Evelina frowned in confusion at the mention of Ailill. What did Ailill had to do with all this? "Does he remember you?"

Dex shook his head. "You don't have to worry . . . he doesn't remember me, or Linh. Or Erina. But I'm not sure about her, though."

"What if he remembers her?" Keefe said, his voice strained with obvious worry. That was when Evelina realised she had to keep her emotions down. He could sense her, and suspect something. Evelina forced herself to calm down as she continued to listen.

"It won't affect anything. Erina's just a little kid, Ailill's probably seen thousands of kids around and he'll just think that she's just another random girl he passed in Foxfire."

"But prettier than the others," Dex added cheekily.

"Right. Back to the main point." Sophie sounded annoyed. "I'm . . . just scared. That time when we first met in first person, he was staring at me like he remembered something. And I'm afraid if he does, things are going to get messy."

"Foster has a point," said Keefe quietly. "It's been how long? Twelve years. We can't hide it forever. One day, his memories will come back fully to him. And as he grows older, his looks will reveal the truth. And I hate to say this, but I think that Evelina hanging out with him is dangerous."

Evelina perked up at her name, but stifled her emotions when Keefe glanced behind. She managed to duck behind a huge tree, soothing her heart down. Keefe's eyes narrowed, but then he looked back.

"Of course it's dangerous," huffed Sophie. "I just don't want to make it seem suspicious. They're obviously aware of the bond between the two of them. And she and that Brennus seem smitten with each other. Oh well."

Evelina rolled her eyes, but inside she was dying to know what was happening. What did they mean by special bond with Ailill? And what did they mean when they said that his looks will reveal the truth? The suspense was killing her!

She forgot to contain her emotions, and Keefe stiffened. Evelina thought, _Oh on._ She ducked behind the tree again, then ran for it, weaving through the crowds effortlessly. Nobody could see her in this mess, or at least she hoped.

Suddenly, someone called, "Evelina!" She whirled to a stop, huffing and puffing as she turned around to see Ailill and Brennus waving to her. She almost fainted in relief as she made her way toward them as fast as she could manage, nearly collapsing in Brennus's steady arms.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Evelina nodded weakly, then stood up shakily.

"I'm fine," she said.

Ailill watched all this with an amused smile on his face. "Did I miss something?''

Brennus glared at his brother. "Shut up, Ailill."

Evelina waved at him. "Hi, Ai."

He smiled, showing his teeth. "Hi, Eva. Can I repeat my question again? Did I miss something? 'Cause I was sure last time, you only kissed Brennus because you wanted to distract my dad and your mum—"

"What?" Brennus asked, frowning. Evelina felt horrible.

"It's not like that. I—"

"I thought you actually returned my feelings," he whispered.

Evelina bit her lip. "I do—"

"Not, apparently." With that, he stalked off angrily into the distance, leaving a stunned Evelina in his wake.

Ailill frowned, but the amused smile was still on his face. "He's way more dramatic than I thought. Well, anything could happen with you two, huh?"

Evelina squashed the urge to scream at him. She was about to go after Brennus when suddenly, she noticed the familiar slope of his nose, and his rounded chin. The dirty blond hair that matched hers so uncannily.

She froze halfway, putting an abrupt halt to the furious confrontation she was about to make.

Could Ailill be her . . .

It _couldn't_ be. Ailill was younger than her! And if Sophie had a child after she was born, she would have seen her pregnant stomach . . . would she?

Was Ailill really her brother? Possible. Why hadn't Sophie and Keefe tell her they had a second child when she was three? They had probably erased her memories, like that time when she had accidentally eavesdropped on her parents' conversation eight years ago. Suddenly, the conversation she'd heard just now made much more sense. It only made sense if Ailill was her long-lost brother, and for some reason, they'd been trying to hide him from her. For _what?_ What was there to be afraid of? She didn't know the answer to that, no matter how hard she tried to think of it.

She swallowed the disbelieving feeling down her throat, feeling it sink into her pounding heart with a heavy thump. If Ailill had been there as her brother all the time, things would have been so different. Perhaps, her life would have been happier, and she wouldn't feel so lonely at times. They would have had so much fun. Now, that wouldn't ever be fulfilled.

But something still didn't seem _right._ What had Dex and Linh's family have to do with all these messes? Why did they talk about Ailill remembering them or not? Could they have hidden Ailill for all these years, secretly habouring him and raising him when he was still a small child? For the Dizznees, it probably was as easy as counting one two three. They could easily change Ailill's appearance all the time with the many appearance-changing potions they owned in Slurps and Burps, and Ailill, by the looks of it, didn't have a registry pendant before the time when Fitz adopted him. The Council wouldn't even suspect a single thing.

However, the big but was still there, haunting her, refusing to let go of her mind. Why did they need to hide Ailill, after all these years? It wasn't like as if it was illegal for Sophie and Keefe to have another child . . . In fact, the Council would be _ecstatic._ Evelina could still remember how they fawned over her in the past, praising her and telling her what a talented prodigy she was.

"Eva?" Ailill's sweet voice pulled her back to reality. She blinked furiously, then rubbed her eyes vigorously, and opened them again, staring at whom could actually be her long-lost younger brother. Why hadn't she noticed the resemblance between them before? The more she stared at him, the more he looked like her. And Sophie. But not really Keefe. More like . . .

Evelina gasped, stumbling back a few steps in dazed shock as the sudden, horrifying realisation dawned on her. The world was spinning furiously, her mind whirling too fast for her shocked thoughts to be processed. But still, that couldn't erase the truth, now that she knew.

Ailill. Looked. Like. Fitz.

He wasn't Sophie and Keefe's son.

He was Sophie and Fitz's son.


	12. chapter the twelfth

No. This couldn't be true.

Those five words rang out over and over again in her mind, forcing herself to repeat it over and over again in an attempt to erase the truth that was standing right before her very eyes. She even tried rubbing her eyes vigorously and opening them again, and pinching herself in the arm hard until she sucked in a pained breath.

But when she mustered the courage to lift her head and stare at Ailill Vacker again, the panicking returned, back in full force.

Her head was spinning, her legs wobbly as she backed away a step from him, refusing to believe it. Ailill wasn't Sophie and Fitz's son. He _wasn't._ It shouldn't be. It _couldn't_ be like that. Maybe it was just a coincidence that he looked so similar to Sophie and Fitz, and Evelina. Maybe it was just a coincidence that he was a Telepath too, like them. After all, Telepaths were getting less rare by each year. It wasn't much of a surprise for Ailill to be a Telepath. But the problem was, all the clues and hints fitted _all too perfectly . . ._ as if it was urging Evelina to _see_ and _accept_ the fact that he. Was. Sophie. And. Fitz's. Son.

But it didn't make sense! Ailill was younger than Evelina. How could Keefe allow Sophie to have a kid with Fitz _after_ Evelina was born? After their official marriage? _And how could they do that, after Sophie and Fitz proclaimed that their love was already over?_

Evelina's lower lip trembled dangerously as her blood suddenly ran ice-cold, despite the raging fire that was burning inside her heart. She stared at Ailill again, who had a slightly confused and fearful expression on his face. Ailill clearly didn't know a thing. And based off the conversation she'd heard between Sophie, Keefe, and Dex, his memory must have been wiped, and they were afraid that as he grew older, his memories would come back to him and the truth would be revealed.

She knew it probably wasn't Ailill's fault, and she should not blame him on the matter. Instead, she focused her raging disappointment onto Sophie. Only her, her mother, not even Fitz. Not even Keefe. Either way, the blame led to her in the end. She had broken up with Fitz on her own. She could have accepted Fitz's request to be together again. But she didn't. She stood up for herself, and told herself she didn't want any more nonsense to do with him.

Yet, she had a child with him after she and Keefe had gotten together and raised Evelina.

What was wrong with her? Sophie _knew._ She knew of the trouble that this could get her into. She knew of the consequences that might happen due to her reckless behavior. She knew that Keefe wouldn't be happy, but she also knew he would let her have her own way because he loved her. She knew that Fitz and Aurelia already had a son on their own, and yet, all this mess about Ailill still happened anyway.

"Eva?" Ailill's small voice broke off her train of thoughts, causing her to snap up her head to look at him. "Are you okay? Uh . . . are you angry with me that I made Brennus hate you?"

". . . Brennus?" said Evelina faintly, then remembered what had happened with him. Ailill had accidentally let out that she only kissed him that time because she had wanted to distract Sophie and Fitz from their dancing. And now, he thought that she had been using him.

Suddenly, something inside of her snapped.

"Never mind about him," she said shortly, brushing past Ailill. "I'll go find my family."

"Hey . . . Eva!" She could hear Ailill's voice call out to her, but she ignored him, as she ran through the crowd of elves, occasionally bumping into someone and muttering a rushed apology, her eyes scanning for Sophie and Keefe.

_One time Brennus Vacker, another time Ailill Vacker—my mind's so confused._

_I knew I shouldn't have went to that stupid family gathering at Everglen in the first place._

_Look at what position it's put me into._

_Can't a girl enjoy the Celestial Festival without any boys interfering?_

She hoped that they weren't still talking, as they water cum shadow show performed by Tam and Linh was about to initiate. In the corner of her eye, Evelina could see the two twins walk onto the high stage, the effect of the appearance of the shimmering silver tips of their jet-black hair enhanced by the brilliant bright glow of the full moon, which shone radiantly on Moonglade, illuminating the darkening sky along with a gorgeous display of all the stars.

At last, Evelina found them. Faking a bright smile and hoping Keefe couldn't sense her angry feelings, she ran up to them, clutching Sophie's arm like a small kid. "Hey, Dad. Hey, Mum." She was proud that her voice didn't tremble.

Evelina saw Sophie's eyes dart down to eye Evelina's hand that was wrapped around her arm for a split second, then dart up again to meet Evelina's eyes, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace to her. "Evelina," she said, obviously making an attempt to instill some happiness into her voice.

"Hey, kiddo," Keefe greeted, his voice casual and cheery. "Nice to see you back here with us again. Bangs Boy and Linh are about to start—let's see what they got, after so many years."

Sophie rolled her eyes, her stiff shoulders relaxing a little. "Still refusing to call Tam by his real name?"

"Hey, don't be like that, Foster. You know, some things should never change."

In the corner of her eye, Evelina saw her mother stiffen a little, her jittery and bittersweet feelings mixing into her heart. Maybe this "mother's girl act" worked better than she thought. She could always have an excuse to read her emotions, and better find out what exactly her mother was thinking about.

_Some things should never change, huh?_

_Thinking of Fitz again, are you, Mother?_

_Are you guilty of rejecting his offer to get back together again? Anyway, that way, you could have avoided a lot of trouble. You also won't have to deal with me, this troublemaker detective that always tries to probe your secrets of the past._

Bitter, Evelina loosened her hold on Sophie's arm, and visibly she could see Sophie relax again, as if Evelina's touch and presence made her _that_ uncomfortable. She was her daughter. Related by flesh and blood. Blood might be thicker than water, but desire was stronger. If Sophie was scared of, or didn't like Evelina, it probably meant that her heart wasn't with her. Or Keefe, for that matter. She wasn't sure about Fitz, but she knew that he missed Sophie too. And sometimes, he didn't really show that he and Aurelia were a loving couple, and sometimes, he did favour Ailill over Brennus.

Despite her mother's coldness and stiffness toward her in all of her lifetime, Evelina had always brushed it off, enduring it and making excuses for her, letting her off, as she did truly love her mother. She even swore to take revenge on the Vackers one by one, because Sophie let her on that Fitz Vacker had been the one to shatter her heart into itty-bitty pieces. She also wanted to find out what exactly had happened with their past, as she wanted to understand her mother better and help her and guide her. Anyway, wasn't that what a good daughter should do?

But now? What had all of Evelina's snooping and hard work paid off to become? She'd discovered that Sophie was disloyal to Keefe and her, even having a child with Fitz after she and Brennus had been born. She'd discovered that Fitz had been a jerk, sending a random ring with a lousy break-up message in it. She'd discovered that both of them probably still loved each other after all this time, after all this years. They had _always_ loved each other.

Evelina felt destroyed, the bitter taste of betrayal lingering on her tongue. She felt like her whole life had been a _lie._ Literally. Sophie had _lied_ to Keefe that she loved him, when she loved Fitz instead. She _lied_ to Evelina and Keefe that she loved them, when her heart was with someone else. And Fitz? He'd probably done the same to Aurelia and Brennus!

This moment, she realised the truth.

Both Sophie and Fitz were jerks.

Brennus wasn't a jerkface, despite what she had thought of him before everything that had happened. She also didn't want to believe that they were _bad._ They weren't bad. Evelina knew both Sophie and Fitz were truly good at heart, and wouldn't do anything to harm other people.

So it was back to square one.

What had happened between them to cause this riff?

Evelina slumped down into a chair that Keefe had carried over for her, and sat with her family, though she edged a little farther from Sophie's chair which was beside her. Besides, she knew that Sophie wouldn't mind at all.

She kept her eyes on the stage, and watched as a gnome passed Tam and Linh each a microphone. The Lost Cities hardly used microphones, but since Linh's voice was too soft, Tam had insisted that they both receive one.

"Good evening to all," Tam said, his voice echoing around the whole of Moonglade. Since the last decade, changes to the way twins were viewed had been made, and now, the discrimination against twins and triplets had vanished, eliciting a round of applause and cheers from the audience, who didn't seem to mind Tam and Linh at all now. "My name is Tam Song. My sister Linh Song and I are honoured to perform an exciting and spectacular show to all of you." He then nodded his head slightly toward Linh, offering her an encouraging smile.

Linh gave a shaky smile in return, and lifted her microphone near her lips, saying, "To put up this performance, we have used our abilities to create an interesting balance of water and shadow. As my brother, Tam Song, is a Shade, and I am a Hydrokinetic, we decided to work together to make this year's Celestial Festival's performance possible. Uh . . . we hope you will enjoy the show that we have prepared for you. Thank you."

She handed back the microphone to the gnome, her pale cheeks reddening as Tam did the same.

The audience lapsed into silence as the gnomes started to sing a slow, soft lilting melody that seemed to make the trees and grass around them shiver. Another gnome tapped a small round cylinder that looked like a drum, creating the beat. Linh took Tam's hand gingerly, and she spun gracefully to the music, the frills of her pale blue dress floating up and down slowly as she did so. Her eyes squeezed in concentration, the rain started to come—but this time, it only rained down on an invisible barrier that seemed to wrap around the two of them.

Then, Linh flicked her wrists in the air, gathering all the water into a huge, shimmering sphere that reflected the moon's image. An awed gasp rang out among the audience—the sight was both amazing and beautiful in the magic of the night.

While everybody else was entranced by the spinning sphere of glistening water, Tam leaped into the air, dark shadows obscuring his figure so it was as if he himself was his shadow. Linh reacted fast and swooped in, morphing the water sphere into a thick flat stream, catching Tam before he hit the stage. He pulled every shadow in sight to his side, the sky gradually brightening into an afternoon glow as he shaped the shadows into three humongous words floating in the bright sky: THE LOST CITIES.

The crowd cheered happily as Linh twirled to the music and retracted the water stream, dispersing it into the air in the form of beautiful tiny little water crystals that glistened in the shadows, reminding Evelina of the brilliance and brightness of the Lost Cities, and her breath hitched at the beauty of the shadows and water combined.

Tam landed on the stage perfectly side by side with Linh, and he bowed deeply while Linh folded the sides of her dress in and curtsied daintily. The audience erupted with a huge round of applause, with the occasional cheering and high-pitched screams. From a quick glance, Evelina could tell that everyone loved and approved of Tam and Linh's performance.

The same gnome passed Tam and Linh their microphones, and to Evelina's surprise, Linh was the one who spoke first. She was panting slightly, but her voice was full of excitement and happiness as she breathed, "Thank you, everyone."

Tam said, "We hope to see you again for the Celestial Festival next year." And with that, the two of them climbed off the stage, Linh engulfing Tam with a big bear hug as soon as they reached the grassy ground. The two of them were laughing happily, even Tam, who hardly even smiled.

_Brother and sister . . ._ Instantly, Evelina was reminded of Ailill. She shoved his face to the back of her mind, determined not to let anything ruin her night. Her excitement only grew greater and greater when she realised it was time for the big performance—Orion Vacker's famous light show that everyone anticipated for during the Celestial Festival.

Just then, Councillor Emery rose from his seat at the very front, his eyes looking apologetic as he stepped up to the stage and raised his voice, booming, "Good evening to all fellow residents of the Lost Cities. I am sorry to announce that Lord Orion Vacker will not be present today, due to a case of affluenza. Thank you for your kind understanding and support. This year's Celestial Festival, thus comes to an end."

Annoyed mutterings from the audience rose high into the air as elves started to get up from their seats and leave. Sophie and Keefe also stood up slowly, gathering all their possessions with them. Evelina stood up reluctantly, staring at Councillor Emery in all his luxurious glory, and blinked back her disappointed tears. It wasn't Orion Vacker's fault that he was sick, and there was nothing to about it. Either way, she could see him again for next year's Celestial Festival.

"Let's wait until most of the people have moved out," Sophie decided. "I don't like crowded places."

Evelina didn't like them too, but she felt like she shouldn't agree with whatever Sophie said anymore. However, she didn't say anything to disagree as they sat back down onto their chairs and watched as each family of elves started to leap out of Moonglade. Evelina spotted Myst's family, and she could have sworn Myst met her eyes right before she glittered away with Elliana, Tam, and Cyrilla.

She had completely forgotten about her feud with Myst, thanks to the recent troubling happenings with Brennus and Ailill. Evelina treasured her friendship with Myst a lot. They'd been best friends till the end since they were eleven, when they had first started Level One together, and since their parents were friends, they decided to become friends too. Whenever Elmira insulted her and teased her, Myst would instantly stand by Evelina and lash back out at Elmira. Whenever Evelina found Myst crying in the girl's changing room alone, she would immediately comfort her, and ask what had happened. Though Myst had never really answered her question. But now, flashing back to the part where she'd met Elliana, Evelina thought she finally found what was bothering Myst. And it was because of Cyrilla.

She didn't know exactly what, but she knew that it wasn't anything good. And she felt like she should drop a visit to Myst's house as soon as possible to apologise to her and attempt to make things right. But she believed that she had some questions to ask Sophie.

Evelina didn't know if she was mentally prepared to ask her—

Her string of thoughts was abruptly cut off when she caught sight of Brennus's familiar figure, along with Ailill, Aurelia, and Fitz. Suddenly remembering the hurt expression on his face when Aurelia had rejected him and when Evelina had hurt him, Evelina suddenly felt desperate, and pushed away all thoughts of being humiliated, shooting up from her chair and rushing toward Brennus.

She had a lot of people she needed to apologise to . . .

"Brennus!" she shouted, making the Vackers turn around. Brennus's eyes widened at the sight of her, and Ailill watched her expectantly. Fitz stiffened, and Aurelia's lips curled up a little.

Brennus stared at her, then glanced back at his family. He probably wanted to push her away, to say something rude to her, but he knew he couldn't do that in front of his family. Instead, avoiding Evelina's eyes, with a stiff voice, he asked, "Yes?"

Evelina debated apologizing to him right now on the spot, but then decided against it.

She gave him his most defiant stare, even though she knew he wasn't looking at her.

"I need to talk to you. Tomorrow at the Foxfire Leapmaster after school." Then, she turned to Ailill and offered a faint smile. "Make sure you come along with him."

With that, she turned and ran back to Sophie and Keefe, who had their home crystal out, ready to go back home.

"What was all that about?" inquired Sophie, her brown eyes betraying her curiosity.

Evelina shrugged her shoulders. "Just planning to meet up with them some time." It was kind of the truth, so the half-lie was easy to pull off, and even Keefe seemed to believe it.

"All right then." Keefe twirled the home crystal in his hand, and lifted it to the bright silvery moonlight, casting a beam of light onto the grassy ground. "Let's go home."

* * *

The next day, Evelina woke up at the crack of dawn, much earlier than she was used to. She lifted a hand wearily to her mouth and yawned, glancing at her alarm clock to check if she accidentally set the alarm clock to wake her up at five-thirty in the morning. Surprisingly, the alarm was set to ring at her usual timing which was seven o'clock. She must have woken up on her own accord. And she wasn't surprised, as to all the things that had happened last night at the Celestial Festival.

That reminded her of today's meeting with Brennus and Ailill. They had better keep to their word and meet her, because she had a lot of things to clear out with them. Though, she wasn't at all sure how she was going to explain to Ailill that he was Sophie and Fitz's son to him. And why she was suddenly so angry and ran off without regarding Ailill.

She still couldn't believe that Ailill was Sophie's son. They were half-siblings. Did that count for the siblings that she had always yearned for?

But first, she had a load of probing questions to ask Sophie. And maybe during the meeting, she could ask Brennus to find out more about Fitz's opinion. If he wanted to listen to her at all. He was probably not going to, and Evelina couldn't blame him. To everyone else, this seemed like she was a knowledge-hungry person, prying into other people's personal life. But she _cared_ about her mum. It was just that she didn't seem to care for Evelina when it came to her.

Determined, Evelina crawled out of bed excitedly. She knew that her mother would get up much earlier than her father, even though he was the one who had to leave for work. Silently, she left her room, making sure to close the door behind her as she tiptoed down the spiral stairs, ensuring that the soft sound of her footsteps matched perfectly with the loud ticking of the grandfather clock on the ground floor, so that nobody would hear her.

Quietly, she crept over to the master bedroom. The door was slightly ajar. Squeezing her fingers in the gap to make the door open wider, Evelina peeked into the room, surprised to only find her father dozing peacefully on his side of the king-sized bed. Her mother was awake, and she was probably in her own study right now.

Evelina watched as Keefe grunted slightly and rolled to the other side of the bed. Clamping a hand to hold off the loud giggle that was sure to come out, Evelina closed the door silently, about to knock on her mother's room's door when she heard faint and indistinct voices floating out from inside. Heart palpitating furiously, she turned the doorknob slowly but steadily, praying the doorknob wouldn't click loudly. Fortunately, it made no sound at all as she meticulously pulled the door open wider centimeter by centimeter. Who was talking to Sophie?

Evelina craned her neck, slotting her eye through the gap as she saw Sophie standing in front of the full-length mirror, talking to Vertina. Evelina relaxed. Of course. She had almost forgotten about Vertina. She was stupid to think that it could have been Fitz—like he had nothing better to do in the early morning.

". . . Where could the book on Cognates and the box containing the ring that Fitz gave me went to?" Sophie muttered, rifling through the bookshelves on her left as Vertina watched silently. Evelina almost cursed out loud.

Of _course._ The stupid book and the box. She had stolen it, and she must have kept it for too long. Now, Sophie knew it was missing, and probably would suspect something.

"Vertina," Sophie turned to the mirror-girl, "did you see my book? Or the box?"

Vertina shrugged. "Eh, how would I know? I can't see the bookshelves from here, and anyway, that was a stupid place to hide them."

"Fine, whatever," said Sophie, her voice carrying a tinge of irritation, "let me rephrase my question. Did you see anyone that came to my room when I wasn't around? I swear I remember that I'd put it here, right at this exact spot. That means, someone must have stolen it."

"Let's see," Vertina said, and Evelina's heart thudded unnaturally. Vertina was going to sell her out! As she listened, she prepared to run and hide if anything happened. "The Sencen boy came occasionally, but it was to play a stupid prank on you, and the Dizznee boy visited with the Vacker girl to return the mischievous imp back . . . and yeah! Your daughter also came once. I didn't see her with your book or box, though."

Evelina breathed a sigh of relief. At least she'd been smart enough to hide the stolen items behind her back when speaking to Vertina.

"Evelina?" Sophie frowned slightly, her eyebrows creasing together. "Why did she come here for?"

Her tone of voice had become a little wary with suspicion, and Evelina knew this was a chance to know what her mother _really_ thought of her. And at the same time, she hoped Vertina wouldn't say anything ridiculous to sell her secret out. Even though she didn't think that she had stolen the book and the box, Sophie sure sounded like she did.

Vertina waved her hand carelessly. "Oh, it was nothing, really. She just came in and talked to me about stuff. I get really lonely here sometimes, you know. And unlike you, she actually knows how to appreciate make-up. Hmph."

Sophie relaxed, and she rolled her eyes at Vertina. "Not everyone appreciates make-up, Vertina."

"Whatever," said Vertina, and blinked out.

Evelina was stunned. Did Vertina just protect her by lying to Sophie? Why would she? She didn't even know Evelina at all, whereas she and Sophie had been together since Sophie was a teenager. Vertina must have known that she had swiped away Sophie's things after all. But why did she cover Evelina?

Whatever it was, Evelina was grateful to Vertina, and she made a mental note to thank Vertina later when she had the time. Not that she ever had the time nowadays.

She blanched in panic when Sophie sighed, and made her way slowly toward the door where Evelina was standing in front of now. Faster than she had ever been before, Evelina raced up the stairs as quietly as she could and closed her bedroom door behind her, just as Sophie started up the stairs. Luckily, she didn't seem to notice Evelina. She looked like she was in some sort of trance as she climbed up the spiral stairs one step by one step.

Inside her bedroom, Evelina scrambled back into the warm, soft mattresses of her canopy bed, and draped the opaque curtains around her bed quickly, enveloping her in darkness. But as she lingered in the silent and peaceful blackness, her mind was on the book and the box she had hidden in one of the floorboards of her room. Sophie had been searching for the two possessions intentionally. She had actually wanted to look at them. Was what Fitz had given her so important that she wanted to let her mind linger on it?

To Evelina, he'd only given her heartbreak and grief.

But perhaps to Sophie, he'd given her more than that before the breakup. Happiness. Bliss. Peace. Love. Care. Concern. Probably even more than that.

If Sophie didn't want to tell her what had happened to cause them to leave each other for another, maybe someone else that she'd never thought of could. Her mind flashbacked to the words Lord Cassius had told Evelina. He'd told her that the principal of Foxfire, Dame Marella, had a keen ear for gossip, and would probably know something about Sophie and Fitz. Perhaps then, she could finally find out what was going on. As for the case about Ailill, Evelina decided it had to wait until tomorrow morning.

Just then, the door creaked open, and Evelina stiffened, knowing that it was Sophie who had entered. Her footsteps neared, and the curtains drew back slowly, the bed creaking a little as Sophie rested her weight on the edge of the mattress.

Sophie pressed her lips to Evelina's cheek, then brushed a strand of hair that had fallen on her forehead. "Sleep tight," she whispered, then stood up slowly, closing the curtains again.

Evelina didn't dare to even breathe until the door closed with a soft click. She stared up at the ceiling of the canopy bed, a single tear from her eye streaming down her cheek. Why must her mother be so confusing at times? One time she would act all stiff and cold, then another time she would suddenly become so affectionate, then she would switch back again. Did she truly love her, her own daughter, or not?

She wished that Fitz Vacker didn't exist in her world. But then she took the wish back, knowing that if he wasn't there, Brennus and Ailill wouldn't be here too. Even though they probably hated her now, along with Myst. She would have to apologise to them personally, and make up with each of them tomorrow.

_Tomorrow._ The single word sounded so near, yet so far away. But it pulsed of hope and encouragement, and Evelina finally forgot all her worries for the day, and drifted off to the dream realm.


	13. chapter the thirteenth

Sophie was a little quieter than usual this morning.

Evelina woke up from her bed earlier than she was used to. Her head felt slightly woozy, and her whole body ached as she stretched her arms, wincing as her joints cracked.

She must be sick. But she couldn't afford not to go to school on such a crucial day. Sighing softly, she slipped out of her mattresses, wiping the sweat on her brow with a silk handkerchief as she dressed up in her Foxfire uniform. Then, she brushed her hair, pulled it up into a casual ponytail, grabbed her Foxfire satchel, and turned to head downstairs.

That was when her foot hit against the loose floorboard, making a soft thud. Evelina frowned, crouching down to edge away the floorboard, revealing the book on Cognates, and the tiny box which held the break-up ring. She recalled what she had seen and heard last night from Sophie, and since she was keeping an eye for her stolen possessions, Evelina had better bring it to school with her. Not that she wanted to keep them forever—but she was only halfway through the book, and Evelina liked to think that the break-up ring caused Sophie nothing but unhappiness.

Stuffing them carefully into her satchel, she slung it over her shoulder and went out of her room. Downstairs she could hear Sophie and Keefe's voices, letting her know that they were awake. The smell of a delicious and sumptuous breakfast wafted up into Evelina's nose, and she sniffed the air delightfully—it smelled like her favourite beurre bursts—which were something like custard bursts—but more creamy and buttery.

The thought of food spurring up her footsteps, Evelina reached the first floor in record time, and Sophie and Keefe instantly halted their conversation. At first, there was an awkward silence as she took her seat at the dining table, watching quietly as Sophie laid out the cutlery for the miso soup. Keefe caught her gaze and shot her a secret smile when Sophie wasn't looking.

Sophie didn't have a smile on her face, though. Her face was a little more ashen grey than usual, and her hands trembled ever so slightly as they gripped the edge of the table hard for support. She sat down, and without a second glance at Evelina, started to eat her breakfast.

A little hurt, Evelina shrugged to herself and took a beurre burst for herself and popped it into her mouth, the buttery vanilla cream melting on her tongue. The only sound was the click of cutlery against the soup bowl, and the munching of food. The tension was so thick that she could have cut it into half with a knife.

Finally, Evelina couldn't take the awkwardness any more, and decided to break the silence. "Mum, Dad, what's going on?"

Sophie hesitated for a long second. Then she said, "Nothing's going on."

Unsatisfied, Evelina probed her further, "Then why are you all so quiet? Is it because you're angry at me, Mother?"

Sophie and Keefe exchanged a secret glance before Keefe shook his head and said, "We're not angry at you, Evelina. It's just that things are quite tensed these days—remember last night when Councillor Emery announced that Orion Vacker had contracted affluenza?"

She didn't miss the fact that he'd called her Evelina, not by her nickname, Lina.

Evelina nodded, dully remembering the immense disappointment she had felt when she'd heard the sobering announcement. "Yeah, what about it?"

"It turned out that it was really serious, more severe than anyone of us would have expected." A long silence followed before Sophie continued, "Elves don't die of sicknesses. Not even the Ancients."

"If the gnomes could have a plague, why not elves?" Keefe countered. "Anyway, Foster, you know it was only a matter of time before it was the elves' turn."

"You're saying this is the Neverseen's doing?" Sophie inquired, her whole body stiffening when she said that name. "It can't be possible. You know the last of the Neverseen died ages ago—well, except for . . ."

She trailed off as her gaze drifted to Keefe.

Keefe's lips pursed together. "Don't look at me like that. I told you I would never do anything like that anymore. So rest assured. _Please."_

Sophie blinked dazedly at him as they stared into each other's eyes, as if they were having a secret conversation together.

"Uh, Mum? Dad?" Evelina's eyes darted unsurely from her mother to her father. "I don't . . ."

Sophie sighed as she turned her attention to Evelina. She patted Evelina's head gently, a motherly gesture that was so unlike her. A warmth spread through Evelina's body, and her heart tingled as her mother said, "There's nothing to worry about—we'll take care of it, all right? Time's running late—why don't you and Keefe faster finish your meal, and head off to Foxfire?"

"All right then," said Evelina grudgingly, as she sipped the remains of her soup and rose with her father to leave. "Bye, Mum."

"Bye, Evelina. Bye, Keefe."

Keefe waved at Sophie. "Later, Foster."

As they started heading up the spiral staircase, Evelina looked back at her mother one last time. She wasn't even looking at them—she was staring at her plate of unfinished food—like she was delving into a pool of her own troubled thoughts. Suddenly, she looked up, and her eyes collided with Evelina's.

As Evelina and Keefe climbed the last step up to the second floor, Evelina saw Sophie's calm façade crumble, and she looked away with a flat expression plastered on her face.

Evelina looked away too, hoping that it was nothing she had to really worry about.

"Hey, Gandalf," greeted Evelina, waving at her friend. "Have you seen Elmira?"

Gandalf frowned in confusion, looked around them, and answered, "No—why do you want to find her?"

Evelina smiled. "I have something to ask her."

He arched an eyebrow as he peered at her curiously, as if the answer had been scratched onto her face. "Like what?"

Evelina grinned, then leaned closer, whispering into his ear, "I want to make an appointment with her mother. You know who that is, right?"

Gandalf snorted—both in amusement and disbelief. "Of _course_ I know who she is—everyone knows who she is, actually. So, tell me—what business do you have with the principal of Foxfire Academy?"

She shrugged her shoulders, and flipped her hair over her shoulder, giving him her most defiant smile. "Nothing you need to know about. You just wish you could go with me—to get a chance to get in Dame Marella's good shoes."

He rolled his eyes. "Hey, I'm not into dirty tricks as much as you are. Don't think I don't know how evil you can be when you want to get your own way."

As much as she wanted to deny it, he was true. That made her feel a tiny bit guilty as she thought of the book and the box, still resting secretly in her satchel that she was carrying now.

Right on cue, Gandalf glanced down, and whistled. "Wow, that's a huge satchel you got there today. What did you bring?"

"Oh, those way overdue library books that the librarian has been pestering me to return," Evelina lied, satisfied at how smooth the lie came through. She slammed her locker close, her heart palpitating wildly at the close shave. "Now excuse me, Gandalf, I have a girl to find."

"Okay," he called out after her. "Good luck on finding her. And hope you come back alive!"

Evelina smiled at that, and headed off to find Elmira's locker—surely she would be there. And sure enough, she spotted her leaning against the lockers a distance away, talking to one of her friends. Keefe had told her one thing about Elmira Babblos—and that was that at least she didn't treat her friends like her minions, like Stina Heks did in the past when she was still enrolling in Foxfire.

She quickened her speed as she weaved through the crowd, hoping to talk to Elmira before the first bell rang.

Suddenly, she bumped into someone. Evelina looked up, muttering a quick sorry—but then she saw who it was.

"Hey," she said awkwardly to Myst Song.

Myst just stared at Evelina with cold, unblinking pale blue eyes, and walked away, even having the gall to brush past her shoulder.

Evelina blinked back her tears, took a deep breath, and walked towards Elmira and her friend.

Elmira and her friend looked up as she stood in front of them. For a split second, Elmira's ice blue eyes flashed with the familiar resentment she'd always held toward Evelina, but after a while, she cooled down and managed a smile. "Hi. What do you want?"

". . . Can you pass the message to your mum—uh, Dame Marella saying that I wish to, uh, meet her during . . . during break time." She almost said 'after school', but then she remembered the meeting with Ailill and Brennus.

Elmira frowned. "My mum's a busy elf, you know."

"Please," she begged, her desperation getting through. If Elmira ever found out that she wanted to meet her mother because of gossip, she'd never even mention Evelina. "Just this once. And . . . you don't hate me . . . right?"

"It's not because of that. And if Brennus still fancies you, who's to say I must stop hating you? It's just because we're on a truce that I'm even polite to you."

Evelina bristled, then hesitated for a while, and said, "Brennus hates me now—so no need for the grudge."

". . . Really? Brennus . . . he hates you now?" There was a grudging curiosity in Elmira's voice, as her friend pretended not to listen. "That's a first. Anyway, it sounds like it's something really important, and I guess you don't want to talk about it either . . . so I'll let her know before break time."

"Oh my gosh," squealed Evelina, plunging forward and enveloping Elmira in a big hug, startling the other girl. "Thank you so, so much! I love you!"

Elmira crinkled her nose as she yanked Evelina's arms away. "Ew. Go away."

Evelina was too happy to bother about her rude comment, and with a burst of newfound rigour, skipped toward her first lesson, eliciting quite a large number of strange stares—but she didn't care. Maybe, finally, she'd get the lead she had wanted for so long. She knew that something would probably damper her spirits sooner or later, but she wanted to feel happy and blissful while it lasted.

Break time couldn't come fast enough. Evelina nearly dozed off during her Elvin History lesson, and before she knew it, the bell for break time rang, startling her out of her drugged-like daze. She ran out of the classroom, noting that she was one of the first few to head for the cafeteria. She joined in the short queue for her food, and glanced around, as if Dame Marella would suddenly appear out of nowhere to talk to her.

She took her food, then brought the tray to her and her friends' usual table. It wasn't until a few minutes after before Hywel, Terrentia, and Gandalf appeared, but Evelina could see the obvious fact that Myst was missing. She sighed. She couldn't blame her, but it was kind of annoying and frustrating, and her head was just so messy now . . .

"Hey, Evelina Sencen," said Elmira, suddenly coming up to their table. She jerked a finger in the direction of the exit to the cafeteria, where many prodigies were still filing in here. "Don't be such a spoiled brat and expect my mum to come over here for you as you enjoy your food. No, you go to her office yourself, or else no meeting. See ya." She stalked off, heading toward her own table where the same friend back in the morning and a few other girls were staring at Evelina and her friends.

Terrentia frowned. "Whaaaat? You set up a meeting with Dame Marella? Wow."

Hywel asked, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't have time," Evelina muttered. "And I have to go now—you all can eat my food if you like—so bye!"

"Good luck again!" Gandalf cheered, making her roll her eyes as she rushed off to the principal's office.

Evelina stood in front of the mahogany door, a little hesitant. What if Dame Marella didn't want to hear her out? What if she refused to tell Evelina more about Sophie and Fitz's past?

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of stalling, she raised her arm and knocked on the door loudly three times.

"Come in," a pleasant voice from the inside of the office said.

Evelina drew in a deep breath to calm her nerves, then took the first tentative step into Dame Marella's office.

The many mirrors made Evelina feel dizzy, and she tried hard for her legs not to wobble as she walked toward Dame Marella, who was seated behind her desk. She looked a whole lot like Elmira.

She had long, plaited blonde hair that seemed to make her look younger than she was, and brilliant ice blue eyes that eerily resembled her father Keefe's ones. She wore a pale cobalt blue cape around her shoulders, pinned together by a sparkling diamond that reflected bright light around the whole room.

"Greetings, Miss Sencen," she said, standing up to greet her. She gestured to the comfy-looking sofas on her right. "I heard from Elmira that you wanted to discuss with me about something. Come, take a seat."

"Uh . . ." Evelina shifted on her feet uncomfortably, then said sheepishly, "You're probably not going to approve of it . . . It's about . . . my mum. And Fitz Vacker. I—I want to find out what happened between them to cause them to fall out."

Dame Marella raised a questioning eyebrow, but there was a mischievous sparkle in her eyes that hadn't been there a moment ago. "Never mind, Miss Evelina Sencen. We can talk about it all right—I don't mind at all. After all, I think Sophie hides too much too."

"Really? I think that you're the first person ever to say that," Evelina exclaimed. "I mean, I'm not here for the gossip. I, um, really care about my mum. She seems so hurt when Fitz is mentioned—I want to know more so I can help her, but she always hides the truth from me, and says that it's really none of my business . . . I won't be surprised if she says that it was to protect me for her next excuse."

Marella nodded, plopping down on one of the sofas, and signaling to Evelina to sit on the other one directly facing her. "It's okay—I get it—I've been there too—too many times already. I'll hear you out, and I'll see what I can tell you."

Heart beating in excitement, Evelina sat down and sank into the softness of the sofa couch, and started telling Marella all about what she had found out, and all the injustice she felt when she realised that Ailill was Sophie and Fitz's son.

"Have . . . you talked to your parents about this already?" Marella asked, twirling a strand of loose hair around her finger slowly, staring into blank space like she was thinking deeply about something important.

Evelina shook her head. "I've been planning to, but I haven't found the perfect timing."

"There's no such thing as a perfect timing. I've been telling Sophie and Fitz countless times already, they can't hide the truth for any longer. So if you know something that you feel that has been done wrong, talk to them immediately. Confront them. Question them. You have the right to know, and I think it's up to them to tell you everything."

"So . . . you won't tell me anything about them?" asked Evelina, feeling a stab of disappointment.

Fortunately, Marella said, "I can tell you _something_ , but don't say that it was me who told you this. Everyone would clobber me. So, you know how Sophie and Fitz are number one on each other's scrolls?"

Evelina nodded, wondering how all this would link to the rift between them.

"Well, or so you thought. They simply told everyone else that." She leaned closer, and continued, "The actual ranking was unseen and unheard by most people, only the people that are closest to them. They didn't approve of lying, but since Sophie loved Fitz so much, she asked Biana Vacker to help her secretly change the rankings on Fitz's and her scroll, such that Sophie was number one on Fitz's matchmaking scroll and Fitz was number one on hers."

"Wait—seriously?" Evelina asked incredulously, her eyes bulging out. "I can't believe it! How can she do such a lowly thing?"

"It's not how you think it is. She actually didn't mean to," Marella said quietly. "She just wanted Fitz so badly to be on her list, but he was the sixty-seventh candidate on her list—and she was the seventy-fourth candidate on his list—strange numbers for two super compatible Cognates who had plenty of chemistry together. She suspected someone had tweaked their results, and asked Biana to check again. Biana checked—but apparently there had been no mistake—but since she didn't want to disappoint Sophie, she secretly changed the lists such that they become each other's number ones.

"When Sophie got her scroll and saw that Fitz was her number one she knew that it was too good to be true—even if there was a mistake in the first place he wouldn't be topping the charts. She knew that Biana had helped her, and she was happy, but also really guilty and uncomfortable. So when Fitz asked her out and started liking her and all that, she felt like she was nothing to her—he only started dating her because she was his number one, and vice versa.

"However, Biana pleaded with her to go along with it as she thought that the two of them were the perfect couple. And I'll say this—they are—I mean, were. Two Cognates together—what else could be the perfect combination?"

"Wow," Evelina exclaimed, her mind spinning too fast for it to fully process the new information. When it finally did, though, she realised something, and asked, "So was that why they broke up? Because Fitz found out that the rankings weren't for real."

Marella pursed her lips, and nodded. "Partly. I don't know if it was someone who told him, or he just found out himself, but when he did, he was seriously furious. He yelled at poor Sophie, threw things around, and more. I wasn't there to witness it myself, but I heard that they had a really heated argument, which in the end he just shouted 'we're over' and ripped his Cognate pin away and threw it into the fire too let it burn."

"Wait," said Evelina, her mind tugging on a memory. She flashbacked to the part where she had fell and hit her head . . . lost her memory . . . but she had been focused on one particular memory that had replayed itself over and over again. The one where she was just about six to seven years old, when she overheard her parents discussing about the past and how Sophie needed to let it go . . . and Sophie did.

She'd threw away a pin, a silver one, into the fire, exactly like what Dame Marella was describing Fitz do too. Only that Sophie had done it much, much later.

So that pin was a Cognate pin . . .

"What is it?" Marella asked, watching her as she tore through her satchel and took out the book on Cognates, flipping through the pages like a maniac. "If you're looking for the pin, then it's on page 272. I know the book too well—it's a very famous Cognate information book."

"Thanks," Evelina said hurriedly, then flipped to page 272.

She gasped when she saw the page-sized picture of the pin. It was of a gleaming silvery colour, with an elaborate carving-out of two simple elf figures with their heads connected together with numerous pale blue threads. In the middle of the two figures, a blazing red heart was painted.

The picture of the pin triggered her memory, and it completely matched the pin in her memory. There had been a flash of red, blue, and silver when Sophie had thrown it into the fire to burn, and now Evelina knew what the pin symbolized.

If Sophie had thrown it into the fire to burn . . . did that mean she had been trying to get over Fitz?

Well, if she had, it certainly didn't work.

"I—" Evelina started, but then the bell rang, signaling the end of break time.

Dame Marella sighed. "Look at the time—how fast it flies! Well, Evelina, I hope I have provided you with some extra information. Oh, and a piece of advice to you. When you have the time, think deep about what information you have collected and put them together to see the bigger picture. Perhaps you will find that relationships are more fragile and fickle things than you have initially thought—and that'll help you to treasure what relationships you have with others now—and hopefully avoid what Sophie and Fitz had to go through. As unbelievable as it may seem—they weren't in the wrong—not really. They . . . were just too young. And reckless."

She sighed, and a thousand years seemed to weigh down on her shoulders, making her look older than she should. ". . . Good luck, Evelina Sencen."

Evelina snapped out of her reverie, and nodded silently. ". . . Thank you."

She tried not to think much about what Dame Marella had told her, but her mind kept turning its attention back there when she wanted to focus on the multispeciesial studies lesson that Lady Anwen was conducting.

She thought of Sophie and Fitz, and how such a small, simple action like changing the results on a scroll could lead up to serious fights and misunderstandings. How effortless their trust was breached because Sophie proved she held back secrets, how easy their relationship was broken. She guessed that Dame Marella _was_ right—relationships were more fragile and fickle than she would ever think. A single word, action, could lead up to a big problem. She was troubled at how easily that related to her relationship with Myst, Ailill, and Brennus right now . . .

But there was still one thing she didn't understand.

If Sophie and Fitz had officially called their relationship over, then . . . why did they have a child after that? After both of them were married and had their own children?

Was there something she was missing?

Evelina looked around her, trying to spot the two familiar brown-haired boys she was looking for amongst the crowd of prodigies. She was shoved and pushed around rudely as she was blocking the way, and one time a Level Six prodigy even told her to scram. She sighed, backing against the wall where nobody was, her eyes continuing to search for Ailill and Brennus.

All of a sudden, a figure walked up to her. When the shadows faded away from the figure, revealing Myst, Evelina blanched in surprise.

Myst looked as pretty as ever—the long, straight strands of her jet-black hair cascaded perfectly down her shoulders, and her aquamarine satchel complemented her pale blue eyes. But her face held nothing but iciness and maybe, a tinge of disgust.

Evelina didn't dare to read her emotions.

"This reminds me of that time when me and Terrentia were secretly spying on you," she said in a monotone as she crossed her arms and held her head high. "That was when you were going to properly meet Brennus Vacker for the first time ever."

Evelina didn't say anything, her tongue all tied up as she stared into empty space defiantly, purposely avoiding Myst's gaze.

"It makes me wonder," she said, "if you'd never gone to Everglen in the first place, would things stay the way they were? Would you still be the ultimate Vacker hater? That . . . would be so perfect. But now you've all gone soft and emotional, and I bet—no, I _know_ that just the sight of that jerk would make your knees go weak. And it makes me think if you really do still care about us anymore—or do you care more about those Vackers?"

Evelina's stare faltered, and from the feeling of injustice and anger, she finally mustered the courage to meet Myst's eyes. She swore there was a fire burning in her bones as she hissed, "I may have a crush on Brennus, but I'm not in _love_ with him. You've had your own fair share of 'love' too. Don't assume things as such. And yes, I care about them. But I _do_ care about you all too. Did you really think that just because I made new friends, I'm going to leave you all?"

Myst fell silent, and Evelina took that as a sign to say something else.

She drew in a deep breath, and turned away from Myst.

". . . Look, I don't want to see your face—I'm sure you don't want to. I still care about you. But you're making it so, so hard . . . Myst Song, I just can't believe that in your eyes, I'm such a selfish, selfish person."

"Evelina?" Evelina heard Ailill call from somewhere behind them.

She turned, and caught sight of Brennus and Ailill, standing at the Leapmaster and looking at her with faces that seemed to say, _Can we go now?_

Evelina nodded to Myst. "I—I'll see you tomorrow. But not at school—I—I'll go to your house—"

"You can't," yelled Myst, still staring at her as the wind whipped her hair across her face, blocking her facial expression. "My mother wouldn't allow it."

Evelina sighed. "Fine. We'll meet up at my house."

Myst watched silently as she headed towards Brennus and Ailill. Evelina was about to board the Leapmaster with them, when she thought of something and turned back.

"Just saying, Myst," she shouted back at her. "I'm not ditching you again. I just have a serious problem I have to address to them. _Really."_

Myst's face was expressionless for a few tense moments. Then, slowly, hesitantly, her lips curled up ever so slightly.

It was just for a split second. But Evelina found the greatest strength and encouragement in it.


End file.
